Code Lyoko: Dimensional Heroes Redux Style
by jexi the hunter
Summary: After their encounter with Moloch, the heroes have found themselves transported back into the past during the Renissance Age of the Dimensional Heroes. Will they be able to get through this and make it back to the present?
1. dePrologue

"Ugh...my head...feels like we fell straight down." Jexi groaned.

"Maybe we did. Let's see...we were in Yokohama. We had just caught Shin, then that Moloch guy showed up. After that...wait, did Shin escape?" Dan asked.

"No...no he didn't." Shin groaned from inside a trash can.

"Hang tight, I got you." Alkal said as he fished Shin out of the trash. "So, looks like we're definitely not in Yokohama anymore."

"It looks like...some strange metal building." Glimmer said.

"Wait...wait, we've been here before." Pit said.

"This is...this is the factory!" Nami said.

"That must mean Moloch sent us to Kadic." Hope said.

"Though...not the present. We're missing Team Lyoko." Jexi said.

"Of course it isn't." Sheer said. "The item Moloch tossed is called a Memory Stone. It transports anyone within its range to a certain point in one person's past."

"Wait, are you saying we're stuck in the past with no ship, no way to call for help, and no way back?" Emo said, clearly about to panic.

"Yes to the second but if I'm right…" Jexi said as he ran out. "Yes! Guys, it's still here!" he said as they came out to see the Sunny floating right there in the harbor.

"Wait, that's the Sunny! What's it doing here?" Mark asked.

"The Sunny is how we time traveled into the past in the first place." Tails said. "Since time travel tech interfered with the old ship, we attached it to the Sunny and used it to travel to the past here."

"That explains the why, but it doesn't explain the how. How is the Sunny here?" Hope said.

"Cause we're at the dawn of an era." Jexi smiled. "I thought things felt so nostalgic. Guys...you just ended up in the starting age of the Dimensional Heroes."

"Oh, yeah! I remember now! This is when I first met you guys!" Natsu slapped his head.

"Looks like Moloch's little plan backfired. He has given us the means to get back. We'll just need to go through the motions like usual, and boom. We'll be back in Yokohama before he even has time to gloat." David said.

"Wait, what do you mean, go through the motions?" ZS asked. "We got a way back, we can go now and stop Mammon's plan right now, can't we?"

"It's not exactly that simple. Though we aren't going too hard on ya, considering this is your first time and all." Jexi said. "The original reason we came back to the past was to fix a problem that was altering the future. And since this is a Redux, we can't exactly just leave it as is."

"That is a good point." Mark said. "If we left now, there's no telling how the future would be affected."

"Yeah, that makes sense." ZS admitted. "Sorry for jumping the gun there."

"No worries. You'll get used to it. For now, Tails...think you can still hack into the Kadic Academy school files?" Jexi asked.

"Considering we're in the past...shouldn't take me too long." Tails said.

"Guess that means me and Franky are helping out ol' jim again." Vector said.

"Oh yeah! The trinity is back together! Super!" Franky said.

"But there is one thing that should be kept in mind. Since this technically is a Redux of Jexi's first trip to Kadic, everyone with student identifications will all be registered as new students." David said.

"I think I get what you're saying. The Team Lyoko gang won't know us, so don't let anything about the future slip out." Eddy finished.

"That's right. Furthermore, since this is your first time here, I should tell you, no one in this world knows about other worlds, so it would be best for all of us if you kept quiet about them and don't go showing off your powers unless a dangerous situation happens." Jexi said.

"Wait a second…that reminds me." Hope said. "Wasn't this around the time you began your conflicts with the 18 kingdoms?"

"Yeah but that didn't happen till further in the future of this timeline. But we've gotten stronger since then. We can tape them down easy. Oh...speaking of tape…" Jexi said before looking to Pit.

"Uh...hey uh...I think I spy the carrier pigeon." Pit said slowly walking back.

"Um, why's Pit scared all of a sudden?" Glimmer asked.

"Oh, that? Well, whenever he's gotta blend in like a normal human we have to hide his wings. And to do that we have to do something he hates...wrap his wings in duct tape." Hope said.

"Uh...ah!" Pit shouted before he was held down. "Oh come on guys! My feathers are gonna grow back crooked!"

"Until we find a better way to hide your wings, this is the best option. And your feathers make good pillow stuffing." Gemini said. "Anybody got any duct tape?"

"Always carry a roll with me. Cause I'll be honest. This is my favorite part." Jexi said holding the roll.

"You can be so cruel sometimes, Jexi…" Pit said, tears rolling down his face.

As Pit was getting taped up, the others conversed.

"So, most of us are going to be students at the school, but how does everybody else fit in?" Adora asked.

"Oh, some of us fit in as teachers, while the rest of us stay on the sunny. Law is stationed in the local hospital, and Chopper is in charge of patrolling the forest." Hope said.

"Would it be okay if I accompanied Chopper in the forest?" Perfuma asked. "I think he gets lonely sometimes being the only one there."

"You...you'd really want to help me on Forest patrol, Perfuma?" Chopper asked.

"Of course! I do come from a kingdom of nature after all. And one such as yourself needs company if the forest is dangerous. I'd gladly help you with your job." Perfuma said.

"Stupid! I'm not happy you're coming to join me." Chopper said happily.

"Whatever you say, Rudolph." Issei said.

"In the meantime, how many students do you recommend we send?" Mark asked.

"Depends, how many of them are school age and...mostly human or human like?" Tails asked.

"We've got this handled, there are lots of people we can choose from. But uh...just to be sure we don't get caught, maybe Inosuke should stay on the Sunny?" Hope said.

"Huh?! You think I cant handle a job like this?!" Inosuke asked.

"Can you go five day straight without fighting?" Mark asked.

"Plus someone who wears a boars hide every day is not exactly a normal boarding school student." Lucy said.

"Its fine, you can stay on the Sunny." Shun said.

"Fine." Inosuke said.

"Terra, Aqua? It'll be like being Master Eraqus' students all over again." Ven said.

"It will. Though none of us will be leaving each other alone again." Terra said.

"Okay, if this is a school…" Mark started.

"Don't look at me!" Eddy said quickly. "I joined this group to get away from school!"

"...Then you can stay on the Sunny while Double D and I go." Mark finished. "That leaves room for at least one more, so...Frisk?"

"Sure, I'll go." Frisk answered.

"Just watch your back, kid." Sans said. "Try not to get..._schooled_."

Everyone facepalmed.

"Well, at least we know whos going and who's not. We'll get everyone situated." Hope said. "So, Jexi… are you ready to relive this moment?"

"You don't even need to say that." Jexi said.


	2. XANA Awakens Part 1

It was late at night, the day after the new students had been enlisted into Kadic and were spending their first night within its walls, when a young boy with blond hair snuck right into the factory while making a recording.

"Diary of Jeremie Belpois, Kadic Academy 8th grade student, October 9th. After my new roommate, Pit finally fell asleep, I went to find parts for my miniature robots. I couldn't find anything around here I could use, so I decided to rummage for scrap in the abandoned factory not far from the academy. I figured that I could find some old mechanical stuff that could be useful. I was not disappointed. I stumbled into some sort of complex complete with an entire computer lab and scanners, and especially this totally intense mainframe. For the moment, I haven't told anybody. It's my little secret. It was the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. That night, even though I was scared stiff, I decided to start up the computer." Jeremie said.

He slowly approached the room where inside was the Supercomputer's core. Without hesitation, he quickly turned it on as the core powered up, starting up the computers functions. After doing so, he quickly made it back up to the main room of the computer. "Okay, my friend, let's see what you have under the hood."

He watched as multiple screens popped up on it with one of them showing a pink haired girl.

"What is this? A video game?" Jeremie wondered.

"Who are you? Where am I?" she asked in a panic making Jeremie curious.

_The next morning…_

"What I don't understand is why these Reduxes keep sending us backwards." Francisca said.

"I feel you. First it was Gospel, then FreezeMan, and now we've gone all the way back to where it all began. What is going in this order supposed to mean?" David asked.

"Maybe whoever came up with this concept has a thing for nostalgia." Kaminari said.

"Now that I think about it…they usually end up as follow ups to other Reduxes." David said. "I mean, think about it. The Redux with Majora's Mask was followed up by the Redux where we fought FreezeMan, which itself led to the Redux of the War of Ages. However, because Sachiko and I rescued the Royal Knights, FreezeMan's Redux also led to the Redux in Ylisse where we defeated Ogugrima for good."

"But it was also where we let ShadeMan get away after we saw what he did to their UlforceVeedramon. Magnamon...wasn't very happy about that." Sachiko said.

"Hmm...I get what he's saying. Each Redux is like creating a brand new timeline whenever we go there." Sci-Twi said.

"Exactly. Which means Moloch sending us here is no coincidence." David said.

"Not a coincidence? You mean he sent us here on purpose?" Asta asked.

"Well, how else do you explain the Thousand Sunny still being there?" David asked. "He did say something along the lines of… "By the time you get out, it will probably be too late for you to do anything.""

"He said probably...like he wasn't sure if we'd get out or not." Terra said.

"Okay, maybe I'm just paraphrasing. But one thing about this plan of his doesn't make sense." David said. "Genis and Raine are still with us. If he was really going to infect all with elven-blood to wage war on the humans, why didn't he just take them away from us before sending us here?"

"That's right. He could have just grabbed them before tossing the stone. But he just left them with us. That's not his style at all." Shin said.

"Who is this Moloch guy anyway?" Sora asked.

"Moloch, known very well as the Demon Hitman. As his name implies, he's a hitman who kills. However, he has a code he follows...never fail a job, never turn down an offer, and never harm women or children." Shin said. "He's one of Mammon's enforcers in his little gang known best at the Demon Family."

"That's right. So that's why he didn't take Genis and Raine from us." David said. "Genis is biologically still a child, and Raine is female. His code prevented him from capturing them."

"He may be a hitman, but even he has to follow his own creed, even if it costs him his life." Shin said. "He knew very well if he took them, they would have been affected like the other elves and half elves. I suppose he just couldn't bare to see such a sight."

"While his heart may have been in the right place, that will soon prove to be a fatal mistake." David said.

"Sounds like something fun." a voice said.

"Yeah it…" Kaminari said before they turned to a boy with blond hair with purple tips.

"So is this about some video game?" he asked.

"Um…uh, something like that." David said.

"And uh...you are…" Eijiro said.

"Odd Della Robbia. New student and your new classmate." he said.

"I...see. And who's your new roommate?" a boy in brown hair asked.

"Why it's you...Mr. Ulrich Stern." Odd said.

"W-wait, are you serious?!" Ulrich asked.

"Yep. The principal told me to move in with you." Odd said.

"Latch on sounds more like it." Ulrich said.

"Relax, man. We're cool! Trust me, it's like you won't even know I'm there." Odd said.

"I sure hope so. But listen, the principal and I don't exactly go way back, so for now, let's take things nice and slow, okay?" Ulrich asked.

"Got it. Nice and slow." Odd said.

As their conversation finished, a familiar girl came up to them and eyed Ulrich.

"Hi there, Ulrich sweetheart. I have something important to tell you." she said.

"Like 'I lost my mascara' kind of important or the 'My pink T-shirt ran' kind?" Ulrich asked.

"No, nothing as serious as that. It's about you and me, Ulrich. If you wanna know more, come by my dorm at eight. I'm counting on you." the girl said before leaving.

"Ulrich? Sweetheart? Who's the good looking Babe?" Odd asked.

"Sissi. She's the principal's daughter. Guys flip over her, but she only flips for me." Ulrich said.

"Oh that's pretty cool." Odd said.

"Cool? She's totally brain dead and a total leech." Ulrich said.

"Oh, then in that case it's pretty lame." Odd said.

After the bell rang, the students then left for the classes.

"And then the waiter says "I don't have frogs legs, that's just the way I walk."" Odd laughed. "Get it?"

"Hahaha...it's so bad it's funny." Kaminari said.

"No, I don't get it. But what I am beginning to get is that your determined not to give me a break." Ulrich said.

"We're gonna have to get to know each other and you'll see by the end of the day, you won't be able to do without me. Same with everyone here." Odd said.

"Huh? Oh, oh yeah. We will definitely need you." Shin said. "Like that will ever keep happening."

_Meanwhile, at the Factory…._

"Artificial Intelligence? Can you hear me?" Jeremie asked the girl in the computer.

"Yes but could you please call me something else?" the girl asked.

"Okay. How about...Maya?" Jeremie asked.

"Maya...I like that." she said. "But what I really would like to know is why I'm here in this virtual universe?"

"That's not so easy. But I've already got a couple of answers. You're part of a virtual environment called Lyoko and you've gotta try to get out of there. Look around for a door or something like that." Jeremie said.

Maya did as Jeremie asked as she found herself exiting a tower like construct before entering a forest like area of some kind.

"Jeremie. I've given you a visual. Are you seeing this?" Maya said.

"It's not just a forest." Jeremie said as a holomap popped up. "It's a whole entire world! I'm counting four different sectors. Each one different."

As Maya looked around, she was soon spotted by some small strange cockroach like creatures. "Jeremie...I'm not alone here." she said.

"Incredible. It has its own ecosystem." Jeremie said before they started firing lasers at her. "What's happening?"

"They're attacking me!" Maya said as she ran from them and retreated back into the tower.

"Phew...your life points are regenerating." Jeremie sighed.

It was later back at school by the vending machines…

"So...about that girlfriend of yours…" Odd said.

"Not my girlfriend." Ulrich said.

"Oh, so she's available huh?" Odd said.

"Trust us Odd, she is not someone you want to spend your life with." Natsu said.

As they continued to talk about this, Jeremie soon approached the vending machine, but as soon as he tried pressing a button, he ended up getting an electrical shock before collapsing.

"Belpois!" Ulrich shouted.

"Oh he doesn't look too good." Pit said. "We gotta take him to the infirmary."

"Leave it to me. I'll take him." David said.

David soon brought him into the Infirmary as the nurse checked him.

"Nothing too serious. Just a minor electrical shock and some superficial burns." she said.

"Well, you wanted some juice, and you got it." David said.

"Very funny, Ishihara. But...thank you all the same." Jeremie said.

"Ah, it was nothing. Just looking out for a fellow student. I'll come back with Ulrich after martial arts class." David said.

It was later at that exact class that Jim, Vector and Franky stood before the class.

"How are you all? I'm happy to see so many of you here tonight. Kaleri Pi Yat, Kogo Suku, Jutsu. No, these are not dishes served at a golden Chinese restaurant." Jim said.

It was at that moment that a young girl with short black hair walked in.

"Oh uh...no offense to you, Miss Ishiyama." Jim said.

"None taken. I'm Japanese." she said.

"Well, anyway, these are combat techniques that can save your life. As they did for me when I was a forest ranger in Quebec." Jim said.

"Wait, you were a forest ranger?" Kendo asked.

"Yes. As for what happened, well I was quietly enjoying a waffle with maple syrup by my campfire when I was attacked by a vicious beaver. Its razor sharp teeth were going for my jugular, but I was able to save myself thanks to my perfect mastery of the razor hand of Le pong chang." Jim said.

"Did that really happen?" Adora asked silently.

"Don't ask me. I don't really know where Jim comes up with this stuff. He's probably better not talking about it." Kendo said.

"Oh really? Since you think that's so funny, Adora, Ishihara...you two are sparring first." Jim said.

"Wait, what?" Adora said. "Wait, this is David. I know he's powerful but...maybe he goes easy on beginners?"

"Yeah...I wouldn't count on that." Usopp said. "I thought the same thing about this girl who used to be on the team...I ended up flat on my back in five seconds."

Adora and David took the center.

"Well, you ready?" Adora asked David.

"You shouldn't be asking me that question." David said as he did a few jump kicks for showmanship. "You should be asking them to my feet."

"Oh, I am screwed." Adora said as the match began before David quickly brought her down to the ground.

"Whoa...impressive, Mr. Ishihara. But you could have gone a little easier on her." Jim said.

"Sorry. It's sometimes hard for me to restrain myself in a fight." David said.

"No...arguments on that." Adora said as she got up.

"Now, Mr. Stern and Miss Ishiyama." Jim said as the two got on the stage and started sparring.

"Not bad for a beginner." Ulrich said before Yumi went and got him down with a leg sweep. She quickly pinned him before the two blushed from being too close and backed away.

"Not bad but you could use a lot more practice." Franky said.

"Now that's enough for tonight. Now bow to each other and go get some beauty sleep." Vector said.

While Yumi bowed, Ulrich just walked off.

"Nice to meet you too." Yumi said.

"Sorry about him. He's got a bit of cold exterior, but he's a nice guy once you get to know him." David said.

"Okay...not bad. But tomorrow...I'll definitely improve." Adora said walking out the door.

"Supply closet." Franky said.

"I got turned around." Adora said before going out the right door.

"Wow...just give her a long nose and she'd be like Usopp the first time this happened." Vector said.

"Wow...seeing it now...a lot has changed." Usopp said.

"I better go check on Ulrich. See you guys." David said.

We catch up with Ulrich as he found his dorm room completely trashed by a small dog.

"My Room! And where'd this mutt come from?!" Ulrich asked.

"That's Kiwi. He's my dog. He just had a little fit, that's all. You understand. The poor things not used to being cooped up." Odd said.

"I mean look at this! My CD's! My clothes! He's trashed everything. And did you see what he did in my bed?" Ulrich said.

"Well I can't just take him outside. There are no dogs allowed at Kadic." Odd said.

"No kidding. I think the principal's going to be interested in hearing about this." Ulrich said heading out.

"Aw...it's gonna be okay, my little diggidy dog." Odd said petting him.

It was at this same time that in Jeremie and Pit's room that on Jeremie's computer screen appeared a strange eye of sorts as an electrical surge went into a nearby robot causing it to go wild.

Ulrich was walking down the hall before he spotted Adora and David.

"And what is she doing here? This is the boys side of the dorm." Ulrich said.

"Oh...sorry. Guess I got a little turned around and…" Adora began before they heard screaming from Jeremie's room. Running there, they opened the door to see him and Pit being attacked by robots.

"Guys! It's finally happened! Machines have gained sentience and are rebelling against the people!" Pit said. "What am I saying? Help us! Please!"

"Got it. Let me just go get a crowbar." David said.

"Better hurry!" Adora said as the robots spotted Adora.

"Forget the crowbar." Ulrich said prying them off Jeremie and Pit before breaking them apart. "Your little friends are kinda aggressive. Maybe you should check their settings."

"I had nothing to do with it. They just attacked us all of a sudden." Jeremie said.

"You have to tell us what's happening." Adora said. "We can help."

"Nevermind." Jeremie said.

"Come on. Tell us. I mean...what if you get attacked by a hair dryer next?" Pit asked.

"You guys wouldn't understand." Jeremie said.

"Look, we aren't leaving until you tell us." Ulrich said.

"Okay. What have I got to lose? I'm already in over my head. I may as well tell you. But first, can you keep a secret?" Jeremie said.

The five then headed to the factory, traveling through the sewers.

"Ugh…this place stinks. But at least it's a great way to get past curfew." David said.

"There's also another secret passage on the campus too." Jeremie said taking them inside of the factory and to the computer.

"So this is the mega computer huh?" Ulrich said.

"It's actually a super computer. When I activated it, I discovered that it runs a whole virtual universe called Lyoko." Jeremie said.

"You know what Belpois? This morning's electrical shock fried your brain. This thing's just the control center of the factory." Ulrich said, not believing anything Jeremie was taking about.

"And what do you call this? A program for spray painting doors?" Jeremie asked bringing Maya up.

"Hello, Jeremie." Maya said.

"Whos the girl with the pink hair?" Ulrich asked.

"I think she's part of the computer. Maybe like an AI." Adora said.

"That's Maya. A form of artificial intelligence that lives on Lyoko. I don't know what she's there for yet." Jeremie said.

"So, based on that, you didn't program her." David said.

"No. I woke up the moment Jeremie restarted the super computer. I don't know who I am. My memory has been erased." Maya said.

"Maya has to hide in some kind of tower. As soon as she leaves it, she gets attacked by monsters. You gotta believe me, guys. This is an incredible discovery." Jeremie said.

"What if it's just one big video game?" Ulrich asked.

"I don't know…I think it's a whole lot bigger than that." David said.

"David is right. My robots are designed to retrieve a ball and they tried to kill me. That's not all. Before they attacked, a sort of logo appeared on my computer. The same one the monsters had on Lyoko." Jeremie said.

"If that's true...you should shut this thing down and call the police." Ulrich said.

"Tch…yeah, like the police would believe any of that." David said.

"Plus I wanna help Maya better understand what she's doing on Lyoko." Jeremie said. "If I'm right...we can materialize her here on Earth."

"This is nuts. What makes you think you can?" Ulrich asked.

"You'll see." Jeremie said taking them down to a room with three large cylinders. "I haven't found the code to materialize Maya to Earth, but I have found the one that can send someone to Lyoko. The supercomputer analyzes your molecular structure through these cabins before breaking down your atoms, digitizing them into a digital carnation in the digital world."

"Uh...help?" Adora asked.

"You step inside the cabin, you'll enter the virtual world." Jeremie said.

"Jeremie, these things don't exist yet. There's no way." Ulrich said.

"Why don't we test it then? We just need a guinea pig." Jeremie said.

"Huh...I think I know where to find one." Ulrich said heading out. It was a little later he returned with Kiwi.

"You brought a dog?" Jeremie asked.

"Yep. Should work just fine." Ulrich said putting him in the scanner.

But as soon as they head left, Odd and Sissi had snuck in. "There you are." Odd said going to grab Kiwi. But the dog jumped out just as the door shut, sealing Odd inside.

"Okay...testing guinea pig…" Jeremie said. "Huh...that's a weird looking dog." he said as Odd appeared on the screen.

"That's no dog. That's Odd Della Robbia!" Ulrich said in shock.

"We need to help him, now!" Adora said rushing down to the scanners.

"That won't work. The procedure's already started and I don't know how to stop it." Jeremie said.

After a matter of seconds, Odd was virtualized and sent straight to Lyoko. He re appeared in the sky and landed on the ground. His outfit made him look like a humanoid cat.

"Huh? What happened? Where am I? And why am I dressed up like a giant purple cat?" Odd asked.

"Uh...Odd Della Robbia?" Jeremie asked.

"Who's calling me?" Odd asked.

"It's me, Jeremie Belpois." Jeremie said.

"Is this a joke?" Odd asked.

"Um...no." Jeremie said.

"So is this one big video game?" Odd asked.

"No, this is a whole virtual world! And you're in it." Pit said.

"Really? Cool." Odd said before being shot in the back by the roach like creatures. "Uh...Jeremie...guys. I got some giant cockroaches coming at me."

"Oh great. Guys, Odd's in trouble. You better go on in." Jeremie said.

"We're on it." Ulrich said going into one of the scanners.

"Okay, now this I can do." Adora said going in well.

"Wait for me!" David said going in the last one.

"Stay safe you guys!" Pit said.

"Okay. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Adora, Transfer, David. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Adora. Scanner, David. Virtualization." Jeremie said as the three ended up inside Lyoko.

"Huh...now this I could get used to." Ulrich said dressed as a samurai.

"Well...this is a surprise." Adora said in her She-Ra form. "Never thought I'd end up inside a computer."

"What, you've never played anything with a customizable avatar before?" David asked as he was in a hunter's outfit.

"Hey, how come all of these guys have cool outfits?" Odd asked.

"Seems the scanners must base your personality into your digital incarnation." Jeremie said.

"I don't think about giant purple cats." Odd said. "I'd rather have a cooler weapon than these claws." Odd said before accidentally firing an arrow. "Nevermind. This rocks."

"Now try and hook up with Maya in her tower." Jeremie said.

"Maya?" Odd asked.

"A girl who lives on Lyoko." Ulrich said.

"No way. There are babes here?" Odd said.

"But I get the impression that Belpois has flipped her." Ulrich said.

"He's in love with a virtual chick? Is he nuts?" Odd asked.

"Yep." Ulrich said.

Upon walking through a nearby tower, they ended up falling through it before ending up in another tower, this time in a region of Lyoko covered in ice.

"I see. So if you enter the bottom, you'll end up in another part of this Lyoko place." Adora said. "Like some kinda warp zone. Huh? That looks suspicious." she said seeing one tower glowing red while the others glowed blue. "Is that supposed to be normal?"

"Somehow I don't…" Odd said before they were approached by block like creatures. "New baddies. Great."

"Hey, it's just a few blocks. We can…" Adora said before they were surrounded by a whole cluster of them. "Oh…"

"Yeah...I just remembered this scene and...it's gonna sting you guys a lot." Pit said to them.

"It's gonna what?" Adora said before they all open fired on them. Adora blocked with her sword before being taken down from the back and devirtualized.

"Ugh…" Adora groaned. "Okay, that hurt a lot. Jeremie?" she asked before climbing up to see him tangled in a mass of living wires. "Oh my god!"

"Guys, how many life points do we have left?" Odd asked.

"Not many left." Ulrich said.

Odd was then hit and devirtualized.

Ulrich raised his sword and stabbed one of the Bloks in the eye, destroying it. "Yes! I got one!" he said before he was blasted and devirtualized.

"Guess it's up to me now." David said as he threw his sword at one of the Bloks, destroying it. He retrieved it before facing the last one. "If I'm going down…I'm taking you with me!" he ran right at it, stabbing it just as it blasted him, destroying both at once.

"Oof…man, that was brutal." David said.

"Yeah...tell that to us!" Adora said as they were battling with the live wires attacking them.

"Hang on!" Ulrich said stabbing a piece of sharp metal into the wires before being shocked and sent back.

"Ulrich!" Sissi shouted.

But before the wires could get at him again, Odd landed the finishing blow as they fell lifeless.

"Works better a second time. Told you you guys couldn't do without me." Odd said.

"Weird how the wires just came alive." Adora said. "What could have caused that?"

"Trust me, that answer is going to come soon." Pit said as the tower still glowed red.


	3. XANA Awakens Part 2

"Okay...just one last tweak." Tails said setting up something on the Sunny.

"Don't take too long. If he's close to creating the RTTP, we'll need that counter shield." Jexi said.

"Countershield? RTTP?" Tanjiro asked.

"A way to counter the effects of a program that turns back time. If we didn't have this, the only ones who'd remember would be David and Adora." Jexi said.

"Ah, right. Because it wipes our memories." Genis said.

"That's why it shields the Sunny and is also synched to our comms. To make sure we don't forget." Jexi said.

"We've been to the future reduxes, so we never knew what it was like to be vulnerable." Leia said.

"And since this was a time when the computer was just restarted, we aren't even registered in the database yet." Jexi said. "Just hope the others are all right."

_Meanwhile at the cafeteria…_

"Well good morning to you, lovebirds." Odd said arriving with his hair styled into a point.

"You...changed your hair." Pit said.

"Yeah. Lyoko Style. Very in right now. Meow." Odd said sitting down. He then began eating everything that was in front of him,

"You always eat that much?" Ulrich asked.

"Actually, I'm not really that hungry today. You seen Jeremie?" Odd asked.

"He's been in his room all night." Pit said.

"Man, the guy's a real Einstein." Odd said.

"Who's Einstein?" Sissi asked.

_In Jeremie and Pit's room…._

"Unfortunately, you're not like the others. You can't be devirtualized when you lose all your life points." Jeremie said.

"Least now I know how to change between sectors." Maya said.

"I also found out what the towers are for. They're portals between the virtual world and the normal world. And when they're red it means they're activated." Jeremie said.

"Are you sure?" Maya asked.

"Just about. They may be the way to materialize you on Earth. Unbelievable huh? I can't wait to tell the others." Jeremie said as he left.

_Later…._

"So if we're right...you want us to go back to Lyoko and bring Maya to a red tower." Ulrich said.

"Like I said, it may be the only way to bring Maya into the real world. Pretty wild, huh?" Jeremie said.

"You mean dangerous. We were practically wiped out last night...except for David who earned coolness points with the taking you down with me line." Odd said.

"It was still a draw, though." David said.

"Still, I think it's better for all of us if we just shut down the Supercomputer. Too bad for Maya, but it's not like she's human." Ulrich said.

"She's still a sort of intelligent being. She's got emotions like we do." Jeremie said.

"See, I told you. He's madly in love with a computer program." Ulrich said.

"Love is very complicated, Ulrich." David said.

"We couldn't even get by the monsters there. We'll be blown away in a heartbeat. Odd said.

"If there were more than just the four of us last time. And Sissi's too chicken to go." Ulrich said.

"No I'm not. I really want to go to Lyoko but when cheerleading practice is over." Sissi said.

"And uh...we happen to know a few cool guys and girls." Pit said.

"Thanks Pit, you too, Sissi. Now once we materialize Maya to Earth, we can shut down the supercomputer. But for now, we keep this our secret." Jeremie said.

"You can count on me to keep a secret." Adora smiled.

"Yeah...um...maybe you could stay as a support." Pit said.

"Honestly, you aren't that much help." Ulrich said.

"They do make valid points. Not to mention your avatar makes you an easy target." Jeremie said.

"But I…" Adora said.

"Look, don't sweat it. There are others who can handle it. Not everyone is cut out for this stuff." Pit said.

Adora, taking the comments the wrong way, looked away as she headed off.

"She wasn't even supposed to be here. Guess Hope ignored our warning about letting those from Etheria into the school." Pit sighed.

"Look, I gotta go." Ulrich said walking off too.

"Ulrich, where are you going? Aren't you going to watch my cheerleading routine?" Sissi asked.

"There's something I need to take care of." Ulrich said.

Ulrich then headed to the Gym. Going inside, Yumi was already there waiting for him.

"Back for another thrashing?" Yumi asked.

"I don't like things ending on a bad note." Ulrich said.

The two quickly bowed to one another before going at one another. As this happened, near one electrical outlet, a ball of pure electricity was beginning to form.

The two in the gym continued to spar.

"Have you been training long?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah, my parents think it's weird though." Yumi said.

"Not me. By the way, I'm Ulrich. And you're...Yuri right?"" Ulrich said before he was knocked onto his back with a leg sweep.

"It's Yumi." Yumi said before walking off.

_Meanwhile in the Library…_

"Bingo! I recently found a new function for the supercomputer called Return to the Past. I just figured out how to use it." Jeremie said.

"That's great, Einstein. But could you help me with my electrochemistry homework?" Odd asked.

"Are you planning on calling me Einstein forever?" Jeremie asked.

"Well, why not? So about my homework…" Odd said.

"Well, why don't you say that electrochemistry is a science that deals with electricity and chemistry? Then you say that electrochemistry involves a separate polar system that is opposed as two extremes as over productive materials!" Jeremie said.

"Wait, I have to say all of that?" Odd asked.

"No...you gotta have examples too." Jeremie said.

It was then that two random kids came by.

"You hear? Jim had to take Sissi to the infirmary." one of them said.

"Why? She strain her brain adding 2 and 2 together?" they asked.

"No. She got electrocuted." the first one said.

Jeremie and Odd then headed to the infirmary. Meanwhile, back with Yumi and Ulrich, they were still going at it. They fought their hardest until Yumi pinned Ulrich on the ground, both of them blushing since they were really close to one another.

"Call it a tie?" Yumi asked.

"Okay, but I gotta go because my friends will start wondering where I am, same with you." Ulrich said.

"I don't have friends." Yumi said as a surge of electricity came from the socket as out of it came a large sphere of electricity. "What is that?!"

"No time to explain, c'mon we gotta get outta here." Ulrich said as he and Yumi took off.

In the infirmary, the group that was in the infirmary saw the unconscious Sissi lying on a cot as Delmas was chewing out the two that brought her there.

"It's true. She was attacked by some monster." Pit whispered.

"We have to get to the factory. I have a feeling this and Lyoko are connected in some way." Jeremie said.

"No time to waste. I'll deploy some of the others." David said.

Back with Yumi and Ulrich, they had escaped the electric ball and ducked and covered into another room.

"It was as if that electrical thing was alive." Yumi mentioned as Ulrich's phone rang.

"Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.

"Ulrich? Great I really need you! Sissi got electrocuted by some sort of giant-!" Jeremie started.

"Electrical Sphere?" Ulrich asked. "Cause the same thing just tried to go after me. This is getting more dangerous. You and your supercomputer."

"All the more reason to materialize Maya ASAP! We have to go to Lyoko and bring her to the red tower! We can shut down the supercomputer tonight so we'll meet you in the sewer!" Jeremie said.

"Sorry...gotta go." Ulrich said.

"You seem to know what's going on here. What was that electrical thing that attacked us?" Yumi demanded.

"Look I don't have time to explain." Ulrich said.

"Have time for a 3rd rematch then?" Yumi asked.

"Ugh...fine, come on." Ulrich said bringing her along.

It didn't take long before they were running through the sewers and both groups convened at the factory and the computer.

"Maya? Can you hear me? Maya?" Jeremie asked.

"Jeremie, I'm being chased by monsters." Maya said running from said monsters.

"Why did you leave your tower?" Jeremie said.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't ignore these pulsations." Maya said.

"I'm sending backup. Just hang in there." Jeremie said as Ulrich, Odd and Yumi were the first to the scanners.

"Your story is pure science fiction, you guys know that right?" Yumi said.

"Except it's for real." Pit said.

"I'm starting the procedure. Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Yumi. Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi. Virtualization." Jeremie said sending them into Lyoko.

"Bummer. I'm still a big purple cat." Odd said.

"Ouch!" The two then turned to see Yumi on the ground, dressed as a geisha.

"Wow, that Japanese outfit looks pretty sharp." Odd said.

"Okay, we're ready for the next batch." Jeremie said.

"Alright David, we just step inside these machines, correct?" Mark asked.

"That's right." David said.

"Very well, let's begin gentlemen." Double D said as the three stepped inside the scanners.

"Transfer David, Transfer Mark, Transfer Double D. Scanner David, Scanner Mark, Scanner Double D. Virtualization." Jeremie said sending them to Lyoko as well.

"Whoa!" Mark said landing face first. "Ouch...guess this was before safe landings were invented."

"Quite the fascinating place. It's actually hard to tell this world is in a computer." Double D examined, now wearing clothing akin to a scientist with a white lab coat and glasses.

"I know. Like Virtual Reality." David said. "That's what I thought when I experienced something like this."

"Still...this place is pretty...amazing." Mark said, as he looked over himself. "Hey, I'm a priest! That's pretty cool!" he laughed.

"Looks like all is going good." Pit said. "But it feels like I'm forgetting something."

The six of them hurried before they quickly defended Maya from the incoming monsters.

"You Maya? I'm Odd. I gotta say, Jeremie has some nice tastes." Odd said.

"Focus on the fight." Ulrich said.

"But I don't have a weapon to…" Yumi said before taking out a fan. "A fan?"

"Try throwing it, you never know." Odd recommended.

"Well...okay…" Yumi said tossing the fan as it flew across the air, slicing apart a monster before returning to her.

"Not bad." Ulrich said.

"Think I'll keep it." Yumi replied.

"Hurry. To the...what the? I'm getting a signal that isn't like the monsters." Jeremie said.

"Oh crap. Guys, I just remembered. It wasn't just the kingdoms we fought." Pit said before appearing before them was a large two headed dog coated in flames.

"Good Lord, what is that thing?!" Double D said.

"Uh...meet Twinbellows. Rebirthed due to the Universal Villains." Pit said. "But I didn't even think they would even be here."

"They aren't." a voice said as a figure emerged from the dark. "Seems we're not the only ones who ended up here." they said revealing themselves as Arthur.

"You...but you were never here. How are you…" Pit said.

"Let's just say that certain circumstances have pulled us into conflict with one another." Arthur said. "Besides...what's a good hero story without a group of villains?"

"But the ones there would have been objected to your little take over." Pit said.

"Let's say the current Universal Villains here are...incapacitated." Arthur said. "Okay boy...you have your job. Go and play." he said as Twinbellows charged at them.

"You guys get Maya to the tower. I'll handle this." David said.

"You sure?" Ulrich asked.

"Don't worry. He's handled worse than some overgrown mutt." Mark said.

The others then ran ahead. Twinbellows then roared at David as he pawed the ground.

"Come on, boy." David said waving a hand towards him. "Let's play."

Twinbellows then charged at David and breathed fire from his two heads at the demon slayer.

David spins his blade in front of him as it generates ice. Twinbellows crashed right into the ice and howled in pain before breathing fire at him.

David leaps in the air to avoid the flames before slashing Twinbellows right between his heads.

Twinbellows was furious at it tried biting David, but missed. It then prepared to blast fire again. But it then stood there in shock as it split in two before vanishing.

"Phew…And that is how it's done." David said.

"Well...wasn't that impressive." Arthur said. "Well done." he said beginning to vanish.

"Don't you dare leave!" Pit shouted.

"Oh no worries. We'll have plenty of time to see each other again, old pals." Arthur smiled before vanishing completely.

Back in the tower, Maya stood in the center and was lifted to the top. She placed her hand on a screen and the name "Aelita" appeared.

"Aelita…" Maya said.

A screen then asking for a code then appeared.

"Code Lyoko." Maya said deactivating the tower immediately.

"Looks like that did it." Mark said. "So...how do we get out?"

"Don't worry. He'll get us out in a minute." David said as they were soon devirtualized and brought back to Earth.

"Well, that was quite the adventure. So long as we aren't discovered, we should be…" Double D said before they saw Jeremie and Pit cornered as Jim, Delmas and Sissi were with them. "...Of course, there's always Murphy's Law to account for."

"Damn it, Sissi, we swore not to tell anybody!" David said.

"Belpois! I order you to shut this thing down and come with me." Delmas said. "Same with the rest of you."

"I'm sorry sir." Jeremie said punching something in. "This is it. I'm launching the program. Return to the Past now!" he said as a bright light engulfed the entire area. When it cleared, the group found themselves back at the vending machines on the day of the first dive into Lyoko.

"Um…what just happened?" Adora asked.

"Return to the Past. We went back in time." Pit said.

"Oh." Adora said rubbing her head before turning to pit. "Listen Pit, about before. I'm sorry I got upset. You're right about me not being cut out for this type of thing. Maybe there's just different things people are good at, and I'm not good at this."

"Okay…" Pit said.

"Hey, Jeremie. That program really worked." Odd said.

"What are you talking about?" Jeremie asked.

"Lyoko, Maya, Odd's purple cat costume." Ulrich said.

"You all know about Lyoko?" Jeremie said surprised.

"Oh right, he wasn't scanned." Mark realized. "Alright, here's what happened..."

And so they recounted everything that happened inside of Jeremie's room.

"I see. Because I wasn't scanned, I couldn't remember any of this." Jeremie said. "First thing tomorrow, I'll get myself scanned."

"It's too dangerous. You need to shut down the computer." Maya said.

"But Maya…" Jeremie said.

"Aelita. When I was in the tower, I remembered it. My true name." she said.

"Aelita…that's much better than Maya. What about bringing you in? You have to give me one more day." Jeremie said.

And so that day passed in a flash.

"So...did you find anything?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah. XANA." Jeremie said.

"XANA? What's that?" Adora asked.

"An artificial intelligence. More like a virus that can control electricity and activate towers to reach your world." Aelita said.

"So everything in Lyoko...was all cause of XANA?" Adora asked.

"All except that man named Arthur. That individual I spoke with our new friends about. He is leading a group called the Lost Thieves. As for their reasons...they're unknown." Jeremie said. "We also learned our friends here come from other worlds."

"That's pretty cool. So we don't know what this Arthur guy wants, but what's XANA after?" Odd asked.

"XANA wants out. Only Aelita can counter the activated towers. And Jexi has agreed to have his friends help out as much as they can. It will take time to materialize Aelita, but I can do it.." Jeremie said.

"And you can count on us too on this adventure." Pit said. "Adventure!" he said as they just stared at him. "That was our catchphrase back then. Never caught on."

_Meanwhile…_

"Man...being back here brings back a lot of memories." Flux said.

"I'm sure it does, dear brother." Arthur said. "You sure you wanna keep playing the villain here?"

"Well...would really mess things up if we deviated from the origin." Flux said.

"True. And besides...it's been so long since all 100 of us have been together." Arthur said looking to many hidden faces within a hidden location.


	4. Teddygodzilla

We open at Kadic where we see two young girls video taping a setup for a dance. One with short red hair and the other with long brown hair.

"Are we rolling?" the redhead asked.

"Yeah." the other one said.

"Good morning, students of Kadic Academy. Your ace reporters Milly and Tamiya here with today's school news and it's really big, since I'm pretty sure you already know, tonight is the big night, the night of our annual school prom. Unfortunately, our cameras were not authorized to film the site where the festivities will take place, but I can make out from where I'm speaking, the girl who might crowned our beauty queen tonight, just as she was last year, I mean of course our principal's daughter, Sissi. Let's see whether she'll answer a few questions." she said.

Sissi herself then came out.

"Well, Sissi? How about a few words for our TV audience before the big night?" Milly asked.

"Sorry, munchkins. I only talk to real pro reporters. I have no time to waste on a couple of nerds." Sissi said.

The camera then turned off after that.

"But it's for the school news program. What about freedom of the press?" Milly asked.

"Oh, Milly. Little dipsticks your age have no freedom. Anyway, who needs your dumb reporting? What do you know? Besides, you've got a problem. Don't forget you need a date and I can't think of anyone who would want to go with a dork like you. Even them. I bet if you asked them, they'd run like scared rabbits." Sissi said pointing to her group.

"Who needs them? There are lots of other boys." Milly said.

"What are you waiting for them? Try and find one." Sissi said.

Milly looked around before eyeing the heroes inside, setting up for the event.

"Ulrich? Will you be my date tonight?" Milly asked.

"I'm sorry Milly. It wouldn't be such a good idea. I'm too old for you and I already promised to go with Yumi." Ulrich said.

"You see? What did I tell you? But don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a boy for the sandbox dance. Meanwhile, why don't you go play with your dolls?" Sissi said.

Milly then started tearing up as she ran out with her friend Tamiya following after her.

"You didn't have to be rude about it." Genis said.

"She's just a little girl for crying out loud." Dan said.

"Calm down, Ulrich isn't the one who went and goaded her on." Pit said looking at Sissi who walked off.

"Do you think we should go and try to make Milly feel better?" Frisk asked.

"It's probably best if we just leave her alone for awhile. Girls can be complicated like that." Pit said.

_Meanwhile…._

"Aelita? Jexi? Anyone there?" Jeremie asked on the computer.

"I'm here. How are you?" Aelita asked.

"How about you?" Jeremie asked.

"I'm okay. I haven't seen anything unusual about the towers. It seems quiet... well for the moment." Aelita said.

"Well, im making progress on my research so you can come live with us." Jeremie mentioned.

"The key to materialization?" Aelita asked.

"Well I haven't found it yet, but I'm working on it. It's only a matter of time." Jeremie said.

_At that same time in Milly and Tamiya's room…_

"Don't cry. We'll go to the dance. You'll see. Jim, Vector and Franky said it would be okay. We have until nine o'clock." Tamiya said.

"You better just face the facts, Tamiya. They don't care about us or the news. I hate them, all of them." Milly said gripping her teddy bear, both unaware of the XANA logo appearing on the computer screen in their room.

"Come on. You don't mean that. Thought Ulrich could have been a little nicer." Tamiya said as Milly ran out with her following.

_Back in the Gymnasium…_

"Don't look so gloomy, Ulrich, is this because of Milly?" Yumi asked. "You could've said yes, you know me and dances."

"I know. But Sissi really came on strong. If meanness is a quality of becoming a beauty queen then she has this in the bag." Ulrich said.

"That may be true, but good luck explaining that to Miss World." Pit said.

"I think you mean miss innerworld." Odd said.

Meanwhile in the supply shed, Milly sat inside with her teddy bear.

"At least you don't care how old I am, do you? We always understand each other! We're not like those dumb older kids that love to run things. They think that just because we're young that we don't count at all. And if for once we were older than them, they wouldn't laugh at us now would they?" Milly said.

"Milly? Are you in there? Are you finished sulking? Hurry! We have work to do." Tamiya said.

"Okay. I'm coming." Milly said before hiding the bear by a crate. "You stay right here till I get back." she said running out just as a black smoke emerged from the lights and went into the teddy bear with the eye of XANA appearing inside its glass eye.

_Later, in Sissi's Room…_

"A bunch of babies at our dance? They've got to be kidding. And that other freak who had the nerve to invite Ulrich! If anyone is to go with Ulrich, it's me! I'm the star, the diva of this school." Sissi said.

As Sissi was ready to beautify herself, something else was also in her room. Noticing it, Sissi was in panic as tons of products were knocked over.

It wasn't until later on, Sissi was escorted out by her father as the students were watching.

"Move along. Back to your dorms. There's nothing to see here." Delmas said.

"Why don't we check to make sure our old friend Xana isn't up to anything." Odd asked.

"Good idea, Odd." Mark responded.

Soon enough, the group searched Sissi's room, with Jeremie inspecting a wall outlet.

"Too many appliances plugged in. Just a short circuit." Jeremie said.

"Hey guys, look at this cool helmet." Luffy said picking up a familiar piece of headgear before Dan took it and smashed it.

"No, we are not going through that bit again." Dan said.

"Still...not like anyone broke in. She was here alone in her room." Fuyuhiko said.

At the Garden Shed, Milly went back to fetch her teddy bear, only to discover it was missing.

"My Teddy Bear, it's gone!" Milly cried.

"Ha! Caught ya!" Jim said arriving with Vector and Franky.

"You know the rules. No students allowed in the garden shed. All these rusty tools could have poked your eye out." Vector said.

"It's off limits." Franky said.

"With you three, everything's off limits." Milly said.

"Hey, I'd watch that tone if I were you, little girl." Jim said.

"Little girl! Okay, I'm young, so what? It's only big kids who can say what they think, huh?" Milly shouted.

"Oh...you think you're grown up huh? Well, here's one thing most grown ups learn...disappointment. News report or not. You guys are grounded for tonight in your room." Vector said.

"Great, no dance." Tamiya said as she left with Milly.

"Hey...something up, girls?" Usopp asked.

"Someone stole her teddy bear." Tamiya said.

"I'm sure one of the older kids just took it to spite me." Milly said.

"You might be right, look!" Tamiya said pointing to a teddy bear in the photo of Sissi's ruined room. "That's Sissi's room!"

"My bear!" Milly said.

"Oh boy. Uh...I...gotta go." Usopp said running off.

"You think XANA's possessed a teddy bear?" Izuku asked.

"I know it sounds crazy but all of this usually is." Usopp said.

"And we've seen crazier before." Fuyuhiko said. "It's a longshot, but I'm thinking XANA's actually behind this if he's willing to make Milly's bear go after everybody that's upset her."

"Look, I think you guys are making too big a deal of this. It's just one tiny teddy bear. Just trap it under a trash can and we're good." Kaminari said before they heard shouting as they saw Jim, Vector and Franky being tossed around easily outside. They ran out to see a few trees knocked down. "Might need a bigger trash can."

"Hmm. Looks like teddy's doing a bit of growing." Miles said. "Probably won't be too long before he's big enough to demolish a building...maybe even a city."

"We'll have to stop this thing now. A small team will head to Lyoko while the rest of us try to fight off that bear." Mayumi said.

"Don't sweat it. I can lead a team in there." Odd said.

"Okay. We need two more to go with him just to be safe." Kazuichi said. "Hey, who went with him first time around?" he whispered.

"I think it was Marucho and Sanji. But since Marucho isn't here…" Dan muttered.

"We'll have to go with someone else. Odd, go with Jeremie to the factory and we'll get Sanji and someone else to meet you there." Fuyuhiko said.

"I'll go with him." Miles said. "It's the perfect chance to test my latest creation."

"Wait, did you actually manage to bring an Animech here with you?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"I had a few pieces I was working on in my bag. Plus the school has a lot of materials for me to work with." Miles said.

"All right, we'll leave it all to you then." Natsu said.

Odd, Jeremie and Miles then headed to the Factory. When they arrived, Sanji was there waiting for them.

"Okay...here we go." Jeremie said as the three entered the scanners. "Aelita, tower activity?"

"Yes. In the Desert. But it's surrounded by monsters." Aelita said.

"Backup is on its way." Jeremie said. Transfer Odd. Transfer Miles. Transfer Sanji. Scanner, Odd. Scanner Miles. Scanner Sanji. Virtualization." he said as they arrived.

"Lyoko...so this is what it's like." Miles said wearing clothing with many different animals on it.

"Let's get going." Sanji said as they hurried off to where Aelita was.

On the outside, the group searched the campus before finding a demolished wall.

"Wow...looks like teddy isn't so little anymore. But why did it go towards the city?" Pit pondered.

"It could be after anyone. Even it's own worst enemy." Usopp said.

"But it's already taken down everyone except...Yumi!" Ulrich realized.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding…" Mark said. "We have to get to Yumi before that bear does!" at that, the group ran down the street to Yumi's House.

"Whoa...you guys…" Ochako said as they saw a gigantic teddy bear marching down the street.

"I've heard of growth spurts, but this is ridiculous! How'd that bear get so big so quickly?!" Fuyuhiko asked.

"XANA must be doing something to increase its size. It's like Teddygodzilla now." Kaminari said.

"Good one." Ochako said.

"Don't worry. I called Yumi. She should be out by now and...wait, where's big teddy going?" Lucy asked.

"It's...turning back to the school!" Jesse said.

"This is bad. The prom is tonight. We need to get those people out of there, now!" David said.

As the group rushed back to the school, the Lyoko team was busy with problems of their own in the Desert Sector, fighting their way through monsters.

"Guys, you have to move, Teddy's getting really angry. But stay sharp, I'm picking up something that isn't related to XANA up ahead." Jeremie said.

"Where? I don't see anything." Miles said before something grazed his cheek and hit the ground. "A sniper bullet?!"

"Wow...that was really close." said a figure on top of the tower. "Missed him by a small amount."

"Who the heck is this guy?" Odd asked.

"I recognize him. He's an infamous sniper who was involved with a number of mysterious sniper shots...Scope Linz." Miles said. "It was also rumored he was a member of the infamous Lost Thieves."

"Yeah...still a member." Scope said firing another shot, this time scoring a hit off Sanji. "One down, three to go." he said aiming at Aelita. "Nighty night, princess." he said firing before Miles went to take the bullet. "Not bad for...huh?" he said seeing Miles now dressed in scaly armor with sharp edges and claws.

"Sorry but bullets won't pierce this hide. Animech number 56: Armored Pangolin!" Miles said.

"Amazing. This...Animech is actually a suit of armor that protects you." Aelita said.

"Yeah. Pangolins are armored mammals that life in Africa and are born with scaly armored bodies. Even more durable and powerful than an armadillo." Miles said.

"Big deal. So I can't take you out with bullets. I can still pick of your friends." Scope said.

"I don't think so." Miles said curling into a ball and started spinning. "Full charge. Pangolin...Shot Counter!" he shouted shooting high into the air before colliding with Scope, knocking him clean off the tower and crashing into the ground, incapacitating him in the process. "Yeah...don't doubt the animals."

"Good work, Miles." Jeremie said.

"Thanks." Miles said as Aelita made her way into the tower. She soon entered the code inside the console and deactivated the tower just as the giant teddy had gotten into the school to attack. The RTTP was soon launched not soon after that. The day soon restarted where they were setting up.

"Ulrich, would you be my date tonight?" Milly asked.

"Be glad to Milly." Ulrich said.

"Really?" Milly asked.

"You aren't too upset, are you Yumi?" Ulrich asked.

"Nah. I can always go with my secret admirer. Right, Odd?" Yumi said.

"You're going with that silly baby?" Sissi said.

"You bet he is. And don't worry. Once your brain gets another neuron, maybe he'd consider you too." Genis said.

"Ugh!" Sissi said leaving in aggravation.

"You got that right, Tamiya?" Milly asked.

"Are you kidding? This is a scoop." Tamiya said.

"A super scoop." Milly said.

Fuyuhiko then turned to David. "I still can't believe we were able to take care of that giant bear."

"Yeah. It was tough, but we pulled through." David said. "There are still a few unanswered questions, though. Most importantly, why Mammon dumped us in this Redux, and why the Lost Thieves are here."

"That's a good question. If Mammon wanted us dead, he could have sent us to any place where we had a major disadvantage like the Realm of Exploration or Pit's world." Dan said.

"As for the thieves...they could have found a stone like we did." Yaoyorozu said. "And Flux is in their ranks now."

"I think the further we go, the more light that will get shed on this mystery." Shuichi said.

"Yeah...just what is going on here?" Hope said.


	5. Seeing is Believing

"Well...no one ever said being a student was all excitement." Dan yawned as they saw through a science presentation.

"Our heating plant uses energy from our Nuclear reactor thanks to which we produce thousands of megawatts of electrical power! Here we have our cooling tower, here are the turbines, the alternator and finally the reactor. Any questions?" a scientist said.

Jeremie however was the only one to raise a hand.

"I was wondering if an atomic processor exists for fusing virtual particles and materializing them in the real world?" Jeremie asked.

"That is in the realm of science fiction, sorry." the scientist said.

"You'll have to excuse Jeremie. He is very bright but a bit of a dreamer." Mrs. Hertz said as some of the students laughed before the projector showing the blueprints shorted out. "It's all right everyone. Just a blown fuse."

The bell rang soon after, dismissing the students from their class.

"I dunno guys. I think XANA might have caused that blown fuse." Jeremie said.

"Don't get too excited. It was just a blown fuse." Pit said.

"Besides, fusing virtual particles and materializing them in the real world? Look, Jeremie, we've been through a lot of stuff, but if you go around with that in public, people will think you're crazy." David said.

"Oh, really? Well, you have the Royal Knights with you, don't you? They're digital beings, and they were able to materialize in the real world, were they?" Jeremie asked.

"That's...something completely different." David said.

"Ugh...so much science talk. Please distraction. You owe us." Kaminari said as Delmas approached them.

"Odd! I thought it over and you can form your group, the uh... Fox Trot Fanatics?" Delmas said.

"Yes!" Odd said.

"I thought you named it Pop Rock Regressive." Eijiro reminded.

"But it must be open to anyone who wishes to play, is that clear?" Delmas said.

"No problemo, sir." Odd said as Delmas left. "Let's hear it for the god of rock and roll. If we hurry, we can print up the leaflets before lunch, Jeremie."

"Eh...no. Rock and roll isn't my thing. Think I'll check out that fuse." Jeremie said.

"We'll see you later then." Yumi said.

"Well while he does that…" Odd said. "Time to get the band together."

It was later in the cafeteria that Odd was handing out leaflets all across the room.

"Odd! What are you up to now?" Jim asked.

"We're holding auditions for our band. If anyone's interested, we need a drummer." Odd said.

Odd began handing out flyers, but ignored Nicholas when he was passing by with Sissi. It wasn't until a bit after they were by the vending machines.

"Let's see now... Hot chocolate, no. Soup...No the soup tastes like dishwater." Odd murmured before Ulrich pressed a button. "Hey, you hit soup!"

"It's not that bad." Ulrich said as only a few measly drops fell out.

"This miserable machine is on the blink again." Odd said.

"Maybe it's another power failure." Jeremie suggested.

"Dang, we're getting these failures a lot these days, aren't we?" Mark pointed out.

"I'll keep checking things out." Jeremie said. "I know there's something about this connected to XANA."

"In the meantime, how about we start looking for a drummer for Odd's Band?" Ibuki asked.

"Can't you fill the spot?" Kaminari asked.

"Heck no, I'm no drummer!" Ibuki said. "Why don't we ask Craniamon?"

"Out of the question. If we bring him along, people will start getting suspicious." David said.

"Besides, we have a line up of good rockers." Odd said before they saw one of the participants in the gym at the drum set rapidly hitting the drums. "Uh...your style is...heavy metal right?" he asked as the boy shook his head yes. "Sorry but we're looking for something...traditional." Odd said as they left.

"Professionals huh?" Ibuki asked.

"Hey, it was just one guy." Odd said as a girl with red hair walked in. "Oh, Naomi. I didn't know you played drums."

"A little. I've always wanted to be in a band." she said starting to play. But the playing was very bad, like a cat screeching in pain.

"That was fantastic. I mean come on. We're not going to find anyone better." Odd asked.

"Are you serious?" Ibuki asked.

"Odd, you have to be kidding. There's still some people we haven't heard." Mark said.

"And I'll be honest here. I'm glad to have wings...but I'd have them ripped off just for the goddess to take away her drumming ability." Pit said. "Or give her it...either way, it's horrible."

"There's gotta be somebody that can carry the band and not bring it down." Ibuki sai. "A drummer's gotta lay the beat for the entire band to work with."

"Look...we'll keep auditioning people but I really think Naomi is the perfect drummer." Odd said.

"Uh huh...yeah...you're real interested in her drumming." Jiro said.

Jeremie on the meanwhile was scoping out a nearby pylon.

"Four thousand volts on a high voltage pylon. That's not right." Jeremie said before he saw the lights in his room shut off with his computer. He then ran outside the gates to see the power lines go ballistic. He then ran for the gym. "This is XANA's doing, I'm sure of it."

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked.

"The electrical current is cutting out all across the school and the pylon is way above the voltage limit. It could explode." Jeremie said.

"Why would XANA want to pull a stunt like that?" Ibuki asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Jeremie replied.

"Surprise." a voice said as a familiar trio walked in. "It's obvious that my friends and I aren't very welcome here, but my father did say that the band was open to anyone, right? Oh don't worry! I don't want to be in a group of deadbeat weirdos! But Nicholas just loves the drums."

"A drummer huh? What does he play? His mom's pots and pans? Show us what you got." Odd asked.

To everyone's surprise and amazement, Nicholas played the drums like a pro.

"Now THAT'S a Drummer! I say let him in the band!" Ibuki voted.

"I agree." David said.

"Now now, hold on. Sure we can say he's good but I think Naomi would really shine." Odd said.

"Oh come on, really? You're just saying that because you don't want anyone related with Sissi to be on drums. Look, let's just give Nicholas a chance." Jiro said.

"All I'm saying is this. If you want Nicholas as your drummer, then you better find another guitarist." Odd said.

"Uh...Odd. Jiro, David and Ibuki are guitarists. Better than you even." Dan said.

"What? That's a lie." Odd said.

"True. Ibuki's the ultimate musician, David has a band and pretty much everyone in my family is a musical prodigy." Jiro said.

"They got you there, Odd." Mark admitted.

"Also if you don't let Nicholas in, you'll have to find a new singer." Yumi said.

"Whoa, whoa. Let's all take a moment to…" Hope said before they heard trumpeting sounds before looking on stage to see Jim with a trombone.

"Would you guys need a slide trombone by any chance?" Jim asked.

"What?" Hope said.

Meanwhile, Jeremie had gone to the factory on his own and rang up Aelita.

"You were right Jeremie. Xana is awake. A tower was activated in the desert sector. I'm heading there now." Aelita said.

Jeremie then began to trace the current of electricity and to his shock found that it was heading for the nuclear reactor.

_Back at the gym…_

"So...what do you guys think?" Jim asked.

"How do we put this gently? See Jim, we're a rock band, not a military brass band." Ibuki said.

Yumi's cell phone then rang as she answered it. "Sorry Jim, were gonna have to finish your audition another time."

They quickly ran off and met up with Jeremie at the factory.

"Here's what XANA's up to. Once XANA gets enough energy into that pylon, he'll unleash it all." Jeremie said.

"Where exactly?" Ibuki asked.

"On the nuclear plant. The pylon can take one million volts. Once its all accumulated, it can blow everything up." Jeremie said.

"Nuclear sabotage? Isn't that a little over our heads? I mean if we fail on Lyoko, it's over for the whole region. We need to tell the authorities." Yumi said.

"If we do that, they'll have an inquiry and start asking questions. They'll pull the plug and XANA and Lyoko. And we'll lose Aelita." Miles said.

"We should still alert everyone though. I don't want thousands of people to die." Aelita said.

"Thank you, Aelita." Yumi said.

"I can help Yumi alert everybody." Hope said.

"Fine. You two can go tell the authorities but the rest of us are going to deactivate the tower." Jeremie said.

"Yeah, First time in Lyoko, I'm ready to rock!" Ibuki said.

Ibuki, Jiro, Kaminari and David along with Odd and Ulrich were the six chosen to enter Lyoko in two teams of three at a time. Ibuki was dressed in heavy metal style clothing in all black with a skull motif.

"Okay...all we gotta do is get Aelita to the tower. Shouldn't be too hard." Kaminari said.

"Uh...problem with that. I see Aelita ahead but...there's no tower." Ibuki said as they saw nothing but an oasis.

"What? That's impossible. There's no way. The map shows it's right there." Jeremie said.

"Maybe he's cloaked it to try and trick us." David said.

"Hmm." Jiro said plugging one of her earphones into the ground. "He's right. I hear movement on the other side. Meaning…" she said putting an earphone through the oasis. "This oasis is fake. Just some cheap optical illusion."

The group then fell through the illusion and found a hidden pathway to the activated tower.

"I'm detecting an unknown signal just up ahead. Be careful, we don't know what we're up against." Jeremie said.

"We can take care of anything thrown at us." Ulrich said.

They quickly jumped through the surface to find the tower sitting across from them with a young man sitting right in front of it.

"Well...I was wondering who would come to find me." he said. The man in question was wearing a blindfold and earplugs before removing them. "Well done. Now all you gotta do is get past me to reach your goal."

"Who's this guy?" Odd asked.

"Look... we don't have time to talk to some…" Kaminari said before the others looked shocked. "Huh? Something up?" he said before grasping himself in pain to see a hole in his arm and a gun set up near the side. "What the?"

"I said you had to get to the other side...but...I never said it was easy." the man said.

"Unbelievable… he's set up traps all the way to the tower." Jeremie said.

"That's not the issue. Kaminari didn't hear the bullet when it was as loud as can be. And he didn't even feel the pain." Jiro said. "That was cause of your power wasn't it?"

"Heh...well done. Let me tell you about myself. My name is Bat Rivers. I'm a member of the Lost Thieves, a gambler and my ability is Sensory Block." he said.

"I get it. You blocked out his sense of touch and hearing before the gun fired." Jiro said.

"That's right. Notice these?" he asked holding the blindfold and earplugs. "My ability without these...has a very short limit. But when I deprive my own senses...the limit improves greatly for a short while. In terms you can understand. I can block out the senses of anyone who gets within my range...starting where that gun fired."

"Thousands of people are going to die right now. This isn't some gamble!" Ibuki said.

"Oh you stupid girl...in real life...everything's a gamble." Bat said. "Now...who wants to try next? Oh...and I'd make your decision soon." he said pointing to the army of Crabs approaching.

"We don't have a choice. We'll have to take it." Ibuki said.

"Fine. I'll do it. I can take a few bullets." David said.

"We got a lucky challenger...let the game begin." Bat said. "(This is the guy...the one the boss told me about. David Ishihara. Yeah...even with his senses he barely shows any pain. That's why I came prepared. Moment he gets passed all the set guns...I'll take the one hidden in my back pocket and fire, devirtualizing him. Perfect plan.)"

"David...the moment you lose all your senses...just keep running and don't look back." Jiro said.

"Got it. Leave it to me." David said.

David slowly walked over to where the first gun had fired and started running.

"Now this will be...Ahh!" Bat shouted hearing a loud noise. "What is…"

"Yeah...you can cut off other people's senses...but not yours." Jiro said broadcasting the loud sound of her heartbeat.

"Damn it. She's taken my ability as a plus. I can always steal my own senses...but that would mean giving his back. I can't grab the gun either. If I let go of my ears...she'll rupture my eardrums." Bat muttered. "Damn it. I did it again. I gave away too much and they're playing the odds against me."

"Yeah...you really did. You messed up when we were picked." Jiro said.

"And another thing….you messed with the wrong heroes." Ibuki said as David made the crossing and socked Bat, knocking him out.

"Whew…That guy was a real piece of work. Thanks for the help, Jiro." David said.

"Not a problem." Jiro said as Aelita ran past them and into the tower and quickly deactivated it.

"Damn...guess I really screwed that up huh?" Bat groaned waking up.

"Yeah...you played and you lost." Jiro said.

"Yep. Still...that was kinda fun in some way." Bat said. "Guess we gotta go our separate ways for now." he said as he started to vanish.

"Hold it. The Lost Thieves goal...what is it?" Ibuki asked.

"Our goal? Huh...for now...guess we're just winging it." Bat smiled before vanishing completely.

"Huh?" they wondered before the RTTP was launched. It was later when they saw the newly formed band performing onstage with Nicholas as drummer and Jim playing trombone.

"Wow...they are really good." Kaminari said.

"Yeah. Hmm. You know, when we get back to UA, it'll be close to fall...meaning it'll be time for the cultural festival." Jiro said. "Maybe we'll do a band for that."


	6. Holiday in the Fog

It was in the dead of night at Kadic as the heroes there were at the side of a wall as they started spray painting something on it.

"Wow...never thought we'd be defacing school property with graffiti." Kaminari said.

"Uh, don't you think this is a bad idea?" Mahiru asked.

"Look, I need an excuse in order to stay at Kadic so I can stay close to Aelita." Jeremie said.

"I get that, but I hope you know what you're doing." Mahiru said before she heard noises. "It's Jim. Kaminari, let's hide."

"On it." he said as they darted off as Jim caught Jeremie alone with a large picture of him with bunny ears.

"What in the? Oh, think this is funny, huh? Well guess what? Forget going home, you're staying here to clean this entire mess." Jim said.

_The Next morning…._

"You guys are lucky. Odd, you get to go see your parents on the other side of the planet, Yumi gets a vacation in the mountains, you guys get to spend a week on a ship and that leaves me with a whole week of math tutoring." Ulrich said.

"Well, you've got us to help you if anything." Genis said.

"But Sissi's staying behind too. Somehow she got herself in trouble on purpose." Mahiru said. "That could be a problem, considering she might try to expose us."

"That's not an issue. We'll be staying on the Sunny so we'll be ready to help. And also...she has no idea about the rest of us." Sunset said.

"I guess I can rest easy then." Mahiru said. "Still, something's bothering me. What Bat said about the Lost Thieves winging it… I'm a little confused if they really don't have a plan or if they're just hiding something from us."

"You weren't the only one wondering that. Claiming themselves as villains, teaming up with XANA, this just doesn't seem like their style." Francisca said. "I've faced Artemis before so I know this for a fact."

"Yeah, this just isn't like him. There's got to be something going on, but what?" David asked.

"I have to agree with David on this." Jexi said on the comm. "But the fact is we lack too many pieces of the puzzle to solve it at the start."

"So, we just go through the motions like normal and everything will get sorted out." David said.

"Yeah. Always worked before, no reason it shouldn't now." Jexi said. "Anyway, just enjoy the break. We'll be ready to act when necessary."

And so, the heroes enjoyed the break while Jeremie and Sissi carried out their punishments. And while this went on, a figure walked through the forest as they slowly approached the school. "So they're posing as students now. I just need to set the trap."

"A trap? Not going to happen." a voice said as emerging from the forest were Perfuma and Chopper.

"Huh...Ah! I know her. She's one of the Lost Thieves." Chopper said as the figure stepped into the light. "Kumo."

"I see. So they weren't all students. That makes much more sense." Kumo said.

"I see, she's a Spider…" Perfuma said. "That's very interesting. But we'll...ah!" she said before finding herself and Chopper strung up in the trees.

"Did it even occur to you that I might have already been setting the trap on the way here?" Kumo asked. "Ah...that's right. It's supposed to be a holiday here. Seems I came at the wrong time."

"You don't have to do this!" Chopper said.

"I am an assassin. But I am loyal to Arthur and the thieves first. We may have been allies during that war but I must do what I am asked." Kumo said.

"Why would you even serve him? Aren't assassins loyal only to themselves?" Perfuma asked.

"Shut up." she growled tightening the threads around Perfuma. "Don't you dare talk that way about him."

Kumo just glared at them in anger as a scene showed her tired and beaten inside of a dirty room with a body next to her.

"Hey...are you okay?" a voice asked as she weakly looked up to Arthur. "Were...you the one who did this to them? They must have put you through so much."

"Are you...going to kill me?" she asked.

"No. I'm not some monster." Arthur said before offering a hand as light shined behind him. "Come with me...and I can give you a place to belong."

"He is my light...and you will never ever talk bad about him!" Kumo shouted.

"Chopper… what do we do?" Perfuma asked.

"This isn't good. I can't think straight. And we can't snap the threads, they're made of steel." Chopper said. "But I can somewhat tell how she uses it. She uses a tool that spreads the threads across the area. She sets it up so she can manipulate the threads however she sees fit."

Perfuma was struggling to maintain her vision and consciousness. "(This isn't good… I offended her and now it seems we're going to die. Are the enemies of the outside worlds really this strong…?)"

"Now...to finish the…" Kumo said before feeling dizzy as she fell to her knees. "What's going on? I feel dizzy. The air...something's off with the air."

"Huh?" Chopper said noticing the threads were loosening a bit. "What's going on he-" he said before sniffing the air. "We need to leave now!"

"Why? What's…." Perfuma said before coughing as Chopper quickly held his breath.

"I know this smell. It's a mix of several dangerous chemicals. If we stay here, we'll die. I'll have to do it." he thought before getting free as he changed into his Walk Point, scooping up Kumo and Perfuma and running off towards the Sunny.

"Seems this is a really bad spot we're in." Jexi said as Chopper started treating the two. "XANA's taken advantage of the moment and is using poison this time."

"It's lucky Chopper was able to save Perfuma and Kumo before they took in too much of that gas." Hope said. "I didn't want anyone dying…not even our enemies."

"On the subject of the poison gas cloud, has Jeremie located any active towers in Lyoko?" SE asked.

"We're connected to Lyoko too. It's the Forest Sector." Jexi said. "We need a three man team in there now."

"Say no more!" ZS declared, stepping up. "ZS is ready for action!"

"ZS going is perfect. The Poison Gas can't harm something that's already dead." Hope said.

"But who else can go?" Leanne said.

"I'll go as well." Fulgore said.

"I guess I'll go too. If only to keep him from endangering the mission." Cheetah said motioning to ZS.

"Hey, like I would do that when lives are on the line!" ZS replied. "Let's roll."

"Since Jeremie's still preoccupied by the gas...Miu, think you can get things running smoothly?" Miles asked.

"You can count on me!" Miu said.

The foursome soon reached the factory. Miu made her way to the supercomputer while Fulgore, Cheetah and ZS went to the scanners.

"Here we go! Transfer, Fulgore. Transfer, Barbara. Transfer, ZS. Scanner, Fulgore. Scanner, Barabara. Scanner, ZS. Virtualization!" Miu said.

"Seems we've made it in one piece." Fulgore said.

"Great! Now let's get to that tower." ZS replied.

"Yes...but it seems we might have some company." Fulgore said as several Kankerlats went marching towards them.

"Weak scuttlers…" Cheetah growled as she slashed her way through a few of them.

ZS followed suit, bashing several Kankerlats with his board before using a wind blast to blow one into a tree, shattering it. "We're getting close, which means there might be a Lost Thieves member waiting for us. Gotta look alive."

"Uh...that doesn't look like some Lost Thief." Fulgore said seeing a strange monster devouring the remaining Kankerlats and growing stronger.

"I heard about that one from Pit. It's an Underworld Guttler. It gets stronger by devouring its allies." Miu said.

After the Guttler finished eating the Kankerlats, it was big enough to crush everyone.

"This doesn't look good. Normal attacks might not work against this thing." Fulgore said. "Cheetah, it's time to launch a combo attack." he said activating his plasma claws.

"Agreed." Cheetah said as she and Fulgore jumped at the Guttler, slashing right through it multiple times before it exploded into nothing.

"Whoa…That was amazing." ZS said.

"Now, Aelita." Fulgore said.

Aelita quickly ran into the nearby tower where it was quickly deactivated. It wasn't soon after that the RTTP was launched, restarting at that night.

"That was close." Jexi said.

"No doubt. It would've been bad for everyone if the Gas spread." Hope said. "Hey…what happened to Kumo?"

"I would imagine the RTTP sent her back as well, she wasn't protected by the countershield." Sakura said.

"No...the countershield shields the Sunny and anyone wearing a com. She would have been protected. She already left by the time anyone noticed." Jexi said. "I even checked for threads but none were found. Seems she left without setting any traps."

"That doesn't make any sense. Kumo would've taken the opportunity to trap us all if she was able to slip out. Why did she spare us?" Zephyr said.

"If I had to guess...maybe she's grateful that Chopper saved her life and spared us because we saved her. She owed us her life… so she didn't have any reason to attack us." Hope said.

"You might be right about that. There was no sense in killing us considering we just saved her." Jexi said.

"But...she seemed like she was vengeful when I mentioned her being a servant to Arthur." Perfuma said.

"The Lost Thieves...they're a group made up from those society either shunned, gave up on and others pretty much joined for a sense of self. They have bonds that are thicker than water and thinner than blood." Noir said.

"Oh. I see…I'm sorry everyone. I shouldn't have put myself and Chopper in great danger like that." Perfuma said.

"You were trying to defend Jeremie and anyone at the school. You cannot be faulted for thinking of them." Jexi said.

"Risking your life for others…that's the merit of being a hero. You and the other members of the alliance are heroes, no doubt about that." Hope said.

"Merit of being a hero, huh…?" Mermista looked away.

"Something wrong, Mermista?" Leanne asked.

"Oh, uh…it's nothing, don't worry." Mermista assured.


	7. Log Book

At the start of the morning at Kadic, in Odd and Ulrich's room, we see Ulrich looking for something and Odd waiting by the door.

"Hey, Ulrich. What are you waiting for? I'm hungry and I wanna get there before Luffy and Akane try to eat all the good stuff again." Odd said.

"You go ahead. There's something I need to find." Ulrich said.

"Okay…" Odd said as he walked off as Ulrich continued to search.

_Later in the cafeteria…_

"Eight slices of toast and three bananas. Not bad, huh?" Odd said.

"So, Jeremie, are you really gonna skip Gym class again?" David asked.

"Yep. It gives me time to work on Aelita's Materialization." Jeremie said.

"Wow, you are dedicated to that project, are you?" Petra asked.

"Of course I am. I do want to make sure Aelita can experience Earth like we do." Jeremie said.

"Are you sure it's just so Aeilta can come to earth?" Hiyoko slyly smiled.

"I uh…don't know what you mean." Jeremie blushed.

"Sure you don't." Mark replied, smiling.

_Back with Ulrich…_

Ulrich exited the room only to be confronted by Sissi.

"What's wrong? Afraid the walls are gonna crumble?" Ulrich asked.

"Very funny. Can we talk for a second?" Sissi asked.

After the bell rang, the group met up with Yumi as she came in. She then noticed something.

"Isn't that Ulrich?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah...but with Sissi." Pit said.

"There is something very wrong with this picture. What has Sissi got on him now?" David asked.

"So, do we have a deal?" Sissi asked.

"That's blackmail! How do you expect me to give into that?" Ulrich asked.

"First of all, it's hard to say no to a pretty girl like me and second, I'm not going to give you any choice. Come on." Sissi said pulling him away.

"Hmm. Something's up with this scene. And we gotta find out what." Asta said.

"We're going to need someone to distract Sissi and pull her away from Ulrich for a little while." David said.

"Leave it to me. I'm great at distractions." Odd said.

It was after History class that Odd was able to pull Sissi away from Ulrich so that they could talk to him.

"What's going on, Ulrich? It's not like you to be close to Sissi." Hiyoko said.

"Okay…To be honest, for years, I've been keeping a diary around. And here's the problem. Sissi found it and now she's blackmailing me with it." Ulrich said.

"In this diary, did you write stuff about Lyoko or the Hero Alliance in it?" Jeremie asked.

"Of course. She promises to give it back if I go out with her and if I don't she's gonna tell everyone." Ulrich said.

"That sounds bad. If this gets out, we'll never be able to maintain our facade here." David said. "Not only that, but the school will be thrown into a state of panic."

"Yeah...a real state of panic...how?" Luffy asked.

"It would mean this world would panic after learning about the existence of other worlds." Ven said.

"I have to agree, the world isn't ready for that. We must retrieve that diary immediately." Double D added.

"No, I did not get a nose job!" Sissi insisted.

"Sounds like Sissi's almost done." Hope said.

"Well, she and you and some others are going on a trip somewhere in that new bus. What if while they're away, we look for the diary in her room?" Shin said.

"That sounds like a good idea." Maki said.

"Stay strong Ulrich." Mark assured. "We'll get your diary back."

It was later that the bus trip was getting underway.

"This bus is the latest in modern technology, it's electricity driven so it's non-polluting but powerful too." Jim explained to those on board.

"Electrical and powerful too huh? I bet that this crate will go as fast as a snail." Odd said as some of the other students laughed. After Ulrich and Sissi had gotten on, the driver thought he saw something wrong for a moment.

"Something wrong?" Jim asked.

"No...guess not." the driver said as they took off.

_Back in Jeremie's room…._

"Sissi's blackmailing him?!" Yumi asked, punching the wall.

"I know, this is so like her." Hope said. "We gotta get Ulrich's diary back before she blabs about Lyoko, or we're sunk."

"That's why we're going to get it back." Shin said. "Just get into Sissi's room and find it."

"And how do we do that?" Hiyoko asked.

"Glad you asked." Shin said as he led them to Sissi's room. "Just take these tools and…" he said as he picked the lock open.

"Nicely done, Shin!" Mark said. "Now let's find that diary."

"Huh...I'm getting a call from Odd." Eijiro said. "Odd what's up? Huh? Something strange? What bus?"

_Back on the bus…_

"Our bus is going twenty miles an hour." Odd said.

"I don't believe this. I'm stepping on the brakes but nothing is happening." the driver said.

"This smells like XANA. We're gonna check out Lyoko." Eijiro said. "We'll call you back if we find anything."

"Okay, gotcha." Odd said hanging up.

"Of all the times for XANA to strike...I'll head to Lyoko and see if a tower is active. If anyone wants to join me, now's the time to say it." Mark said.

"Whoa, slow down there, cowboy. You're going to need someone to operate the supercomputer, remember?" Miu asked.

"Jeremie said he was heading to the factory, so he could already be there." Hope said. "Also, we don't know the full scope of what XANA is doing yet, and not to mention we need to find Ulrich's diary. You need to slow down, Mark."

"You're right, I did jump the gun." Mark admitted.

"Guys, come check this out." Maki said.

"Did you find Ulrich's diary?" David asked.

"No, but I found Sissi's." Maki said, reading a passage. "I'm tired of him acting as if I don't exist, and I can't stand watching him pay so much attention to Yumi. So while he was in the Lunch Room, I went looking around. I just wanted a picture of him but I've found something much better than that so now he can't possibly turn me down…I know what I'm doing isn't very nice but it's the only way that I can get him to stop ignoring me."

"I swear. That's low, even for her." David said.

"Hmm. Gives me an idea though." Shin said borrowing Yumi's phone.

"Hello? Oh...you. What do you want?" Sissi demanded.

"Nothing much. Must say, I like your style. 'I saw Jim along with those two weirdos who arrived recently.' " Shin read.

"What do you want?" Sissi asked.

"Tell me where Ulrich's diary is and this all goes away." Shin said.

"Okay if you go into the girl's bathroom in the third stall it's on the Water tank you got that?" Sissi said.

"Thank you." Shin said. "Girls bathroom. Third stall. Water tank."

"I'm on it." Maki said as she headed off.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Shin said.

"Wait, what about my…" Sissi started before Shin hung up.

"Shin…" Hope said.

"You're probably going to ask why I'm helping you guys, is that right?" Shin asked. "Many reasons, one of them being I can't go back to the present unless I help you."

"I see." Hope said. "We can't stop to talk, we have to get to the factory."

Back on the bus, it was going even faster now and not showing any signs of stopping.

"I don't think I've seen anything like this. It's like it's got a mind of its own." the driver said.

"It was working earlier when you recharged the batteries, right?" Sachiko asked.

"Yeah it was but now I can't control it." the driver said.

"XANA…No doubt about it." Lloyd said.

"Where's he driving us?" Hiyoko asked.

"Well, judging from this map, the turns we've made, and XANA's previous methods, I'd say he plans to drive this bus straight into...the Petrochemical Compound Complex!" Double D realized. "Oh no, this is horrible! If XANA gets this bus to ramming speed and drives it straight into the complex…!"

"We'll all be killed the moment it makes impact!" Iida said.

"We have no choice, some of us need to pry this bus open and head for the factory." Sachiko said.

"She's right. Grab a door." Franky said as they started to pry open the doors of the bus.

"Here we go!" Odd said jumping out first.

"Ha!" Sachiko jumped off next.

"SUPER!" Franky yelled jumping off.

"Okay...let's…" Hiyoko said before the doors slammed shut. "Oh come on."

"Don't worry. I went to an electrician's school. I'll cut the wire and force the bus to stop." Vector said.

_Several wires later…_

"Huh...I cut them all and the thing won't stop." Vector said.

"We'll have to jump like those three did." the driver said pressing the button, only for nothing to happen. "Great. By cutting the cable, you blocked the door!"

"I thought you said you went to an electrician's school." Jim said.

"Yeah but I never said I graduated." Vector said.

"Sachiko, Franky, Odd…It's all up to you now." Lloyd said.

It didn't take too long before the three that jumped arrived at the factory.

"We're here, Jeremie." Odd said.

"You better get in there. Mark was already devirtualized and Yumi just got finished." Jeremie said. "The foe they're facing in the desert is no joke. Maki is holding it on her own."

"We're going to help her." Sachiko said.

"Go, but we need to hurry. Time is the enemy, and XANA's making sure he wants to win." Jeremie said.

The three soon got to the scanner room.

"Transfer, Odd! Transfer, Sachiko! Transfer Franky! Scanner, Odd! Scanner, Sachiko! Scanner, Franky! Virtualization!" Jeremie called sending them to Lyoko.

Arriving in the desert, the three saw Aelita watching as Maki was blown back.

"Great to see you here. This enemy is very formidable. Are you okay, Maki?" Aeilta asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My life points have taken quite a hit, though." Maki said.

"From what I can tell...there's only one person inside the sandstorm. They're likely the one causing it." Aelita said.

"I see...if that's the case…" Maki said focusing before tossing a kunai into the sandstorm, hitting something as the sands cleared for a moment to reveal a man in a full body brown suit standing there holding two scimitars.

"So it really was just one guy." Odd said as the guy started spinning in place as many particles of sand started to come off him, creating a sand storm.

"So the guy spins like a top and makes the sandstorm." Franky said.

"Yeah...but tops...they're made to get toppled." Odd said.

"You've got that right." Sachiko said.

"Just one good shot to the guy and we're golden." Franky said.

"Odd, are you ready?" Maki asked.

"Definitely." Odd said. "Laser Arrow!"

Maki throws a kunai in tandem with Odd's arrow. Both quickly hit their target, knocking the guy off kilter as Sachiko finished the job, defeating the man.

"Just who was that?" Sachiko asked.

"No idea. But...let's call him Top to make things easy. Cause he spun like one." Odd said laughing a bit.

"Aelita, you're clear." Maki said as Aelita ran into the tower and deactivated it just before the bus could run into the plant. After which, the RTTP was quickly launched, returning them to earlier in the day.

"Okay, here." Yumi said handing Ulrich his diary. "I didn't read it just in case you were wondering."

"I'll tell you about it someday. I better go see Sissi." Ulrich said walking off.

"Ah...young love." Shin said watching from afar as he walked off to his dorm.


	8. Big Bug

It was another typical at Kadic with Sissi and her gang tormenting Milli and Tamiya with how she is the most beautiful girl in the school. The heroes soon approach the group.

"Hi there." Sissi said.

"Well, what do you know? Its miss conceited in person." Odd said.

"Nobody asked you, creep. So, Ulrich...when are you gonna stop running and tell me how you feel?" Sissi asked.

"I believe he already has. It's just that you seem to be incapable of taking no for an answer." Double D responded.

"Actually Double D, I'm just allergic to anyone who's stuck up. She wins hands down in that category." Ulrich added.

"I bet she's been telling you how no one can resist her charm. Well, she's right. Look at the two nobodies that follow her around." Odd said to the two kids.

"Are we completely sure Sissi isn't secretly a witch in Disguise and her entourage are her flying monkeys?" Hikoyo added.

"Oh no, they aren't monkeys." Mark replied. "More like trained dogs. You'd probably make a good dog trainer, Sissi."

The group then laughed.

"Go on. Laugh all you want. Show your friends how clever you are. But I've seen the way you look at me when they are not around." Sissi said as she and her group left.

"I'll never understand that girl." Hiyoko said.

"Speaking of dogs, I gotta go feed Kiwi." Odd said.

"I'll join you, if that's okay." Frisk said.

"Same. Coming, Yumi?" Ulrich asked.

"Maybe later. I promised Jeremie I'd come see him." Yumi said.

Yumi then departed for Jeremie's room.

"Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

"Hey Yumi." Jeremie answered. "Come on in."

"What are you doing?" Yumi asked.

"Working on a new program. A catastrophe alarm system." Jeremie said. "The Idea is to rate natural disasters on a scale from 1-10. Once I've got it finished, I'll upload it to every website. Any time the system registers a disaster higher than 5, it alerts me. It's the best way to identify XANA attacks."

"That's cool…I guess." Yumi sighed.

"What's on your mind?" Jeremie asked.

"It's Ulrich. Do you think he likes Sissi?" Yumi asked.

"Sissi? Are you kidding me?" Jeremie asked. "Seems like someones jealous."

"You're kidding. How could you think I could be jealous of that dimwit. That is ridiculous." Yumi said.

_In Kiwi and Odd's room…_

"Whoa, easy there Kiwi. You look like Nicholas in the lunchroom." Ulrich said.

"Don't insult my dog. His manners are way better than that sloppy airhead." Odd said.

"Hey guys, can I ask you a question?" Frisk said. "I know that Sissi is mean sometimes, but do you have to gang up on her like you did earlier?"

"Frisk, I get that you're a Pacifist, and it's kinda hard to explain why we're retaliating against her. It's just…" Ulrich said. "Ah man, sorry kid. Maybe it was a bit harsh to do that in front of you."

"It's okay, I've seen worse." Frisk assured. "I just feel like Sissi isn't going to change if you keep antagonizing her like you're doing. Maybe if you try to be a bit nicer, she'll change."

"A bit nicer, huh?" Odd said. "In that case...what's say we get her a date?" he suggested, smiling. "Ulrich, give me your phone for a second."

"I don't like where this is going…" Frisk nervously said.

"Trust me Frisk, this is gonna be hilarious." Odd said texting on Ulrich's phone. " "To my beloved. I can't resist you. Meet me in the Garden Shed. Love, Ulrich." Now let's hope she takes the bait. Let's get over to the shed and bring Kiwi."

"This isn't what I meant by being nicer!" Frisk protested while the three walked out.

Meanwhile, in Lyoko, a tower turned red, allowing XANA to take over multiple computer systems while several personnel who worked with them were in a panic.

"I have some sort of weird eye on the monitor. The trains aren't responding. They're out of control." one man said.

"Have you contacted the conductors?" one woman asked.

"Most of them. The problem is trains 3611 and 9442 are completely automatic and are on a collision course." the man said.

"They're freight trains. No passengers. How long till the collision?" she asked.

"36 minutes. But 3611 is a special train that is carrying highly toxic chemicals." the man said.

_Meanwhile, back at Kadic…_

"There. It's up and running. Now we wait." Jeremie said before a new alert appeared on his computer.

"A strange and powerful virus just affected the country's main computer systems minutes ago. The most imminent danger is a massive train collision. One of the trains is carrying a very deadly substance that if released into the air will cause an environmental disaster. It will take a miracle to stop them both." a reporter said.

"I'll contact the others." Jeremie said.

_Meanwhile at the Garden Shed…._

"I'm telling you Frisk, this is gonna be great. Once Sissi opens that door, she's in for a surprise." Odd said.

"Odd, this is a bad idea." Frisk said. "You know you're going to get Ulrich and yourself in trouble."

"Shh, here she comes!" Odd said as the three saw Sissi walking towards the shed. At that moment, Ulrich's phone began to ring.

"It's Yumi...XANA must be up to something!" Frisk guessed.

"She's gonna blow our cover! Ulrich, turn your cell phone off!" Odd whispered.

"Right. I'll call her later." Ulrich said shutting his phone off.

"Better do mine too." Odd said doing the same.

As Sissi walked into the shed, she was surprised as Kiwi jumped out on top of her and licked her continuously.

"Wow. You are right. Not even a dog can resist your charms." Ulrich said.

"And he's a much better catch than those other two." Odd said as he and Ulrich laughed. "Okay, Kiwi. Sorry to drag you away." the two then left for the dorms.

"Sissi, are you okay?" Frisk asked, offering her a hand up. "I'm sorry about them, I told them not to, but-"

"Oh, stop pretending you weren't in on the act, kid!" Sissi said getting up herself. "All three of you are going to pay for this. I seem to remember a rule saying that pets aren't allowed on campus. Rules were made to be followed, wouldn't you agree?"

_Later, at the quad…_

"Yumi, you just missed the greatest prank." Ulrich said.

"Sissi got a boyfriend, though boy isn't exactly the right word." Odd said.

"I've been trying to reach you guys. XANA is attacking." Yumi said.

"Hey, you there!" Jim shouted walking out with Vector, Franky, Sissi and Frisk while carrying Kiwi. "You're in a lot of trouble, Della Robbia. You broke the rule about pets at the school. You're coming with me."

"Huh...but...but…" Odd said as Jim dragged him off.

"That little…" Ulrich growled.

"So she got her revenge. Let's just hurry over to Lyoko." Yumi said.

Frisk looked over to Odd being carried away. "I'm gonna see if I can rescue Odd!" Frisk said.

"Huh? But Frisk, we need your help on Lyoko." Ulrich said.

"No, it's better this way. I don't really fight like you do, I'll slow you guys down." Frisk replied, taking off after Odd. "Just get to the factory, I'll contact Jexi, and he'll send help!"

"You got it. Try not to get in trouble, okay?" Yumi smiled.

Frisk smiled back as they ran to the campus, turning their comm on.

"Jexi, are you there?" Frisk asked. "Yumi and Ulrich are on their way to the factory, but I'm going to try and get Odd. I'm not going to be much help on Lyoko since I'm a pacifist...so could you send someone to help them?"

"That's fine. I'll have someone help them immediately." Jexi said.

"Thanks Jexi! Don't worry, I'll make sure Odd is able to help." Frisk responded, making their way to where they were.

"Now, you will stay here until your parents arrive." Jim said.

"Sir! I need to go outside and take Kiwi out. He has special needs." Odd said.

"Nice try Della Robbia. I know the moment you go outside with him, you're going to run out of here." Jim said.

"Excuse me, sir?" Frisk said, stepping into the room. "I think I have an idea. Why not have one of your assistants go with him? I can go too, if that's okay."

"Uh huh. Nice try. I know your game. You'll go with him and then help him escape. Well tough luck. Cause I'll take this nosy mutt out while you watch him." Jim said heading out with Kiwi.

"Nice job, Frisk. Now, let's get out of here." Odd said.

"Heh...showed those...wait a second…" Jim said before looking to the empty classroom. "Dang it!"

They hurried out of the classroom and got Odd into Lyoko in time to save the day, allowing Aelita to reach the tower and deactivate it.

_After the RTTP…._

"I can't believe you actually tricked Jim. You sure got a way with words, Frisk." Ulrich said.

"Well, I've had practice." Frisk said. "I'm not like the others in the Alliance. I can't fight, I'm not good at strategy…I can't even use magic. My words are all I've got."

"Being a hero doesn't mean you're good at any of those things Frisk." Hope said. "Sometimes, the best weapon someone can have is their words, and the power to use them in ways only people like you can."

"Thanks, Hope." Frisk said. "That's advice I'll be sure to put to good use. For example…" Frisk trailed off, watching Sissi once again opening the shed door, this time to find Herb fall on top of her.

"Get off me, you creep!" Sissi insisted.

"But...I got your message to meet you by the garden shed." Herb said, clearly confused while Odd took a picture.

"...I'm always happy to set people up on dates." Frisk finished, giggling.

_Meanwhile, with the Lost Thieves…_

"Seems things are going as they should." Arthur said.

"Yes but...it feels like something has slipped my mind. Some major important…" Flux said before seeing something on radar. "Oh boy. Now I remember." he said looking at the monitor to see a large castle slowly approaching the world. "They've finally come into play."


	9. Cruel Dilemma

It all began at the track, where we see a mass of students and the principal standing in front of some bulldozers.

"Dear students. This magnificent stadium is being built by full cooperation of the board of education. You will be enjoying the latest in sports equipment. And I personally am delighted to supply you with the finest working conditions possible in all areas. Both intellectual and athletic. Since a juvenile said. A sound mind and sound body." Delmas said.

"Geez… Listen to this guy." Petra said.

"Do we really have to listen to him?" Odd asked.

"You could have stayed with Jeremie." Ulrich said.

"What is he up to anyway?" Francisca asked.

"Same thing as usual, working on Aelita's Materialization." Odd said.

Meanwhile in Jeremie's Room…

"Just a few more calculations and we're ready." Jeremie said.

"Will I finally be able to live in your world?" Aelita asked.

"I hope so. Let's get started." Jeremie said running the program. It was running smoothly til it hit a snag and started to fall apart. Then a red exclamation mark appeared on the screen. "No!"

"Do you want to try again?" Aelita asked.

"Not now. I need to stretch my legs. I'll see you later." Jeremie said as he left his room.

"Jeremie?" Odd asked as he walked in. "What's this? Another of his materialization programs?" he said before eyeing a bag of candy. "Oh, candy." he said taking the bag and helping himself to it.

"Odd!" Jeremie shouted. The bag spilled over and the candy hit the keyboard. "How many times do I have to tell you not to get on my computer when I'm working? There are months of work on there."

"Relax, Max. I didn't hurt your little toy." Odd said.

"Oh no, you're such a cosmic creep. These keys are very sensitive." Jeremie said.

"Okay, okay. A little candy's not going to wreck your keyboard." Odd said.

"What the? I...I don't believe it." Jeremie said running the code again on his computer but it resulted in a green plus instead of a red exclamation sign. "It worked…! Odd, you're a genius!"

"Am I a creep or a genius?" Odd asked.

"You're a creepy genius. You didn't do it on purpose, but by spilling the candy onto the keyboard, you reinforced my materialization program. But since I didn't see what keys the candy hit, we only have one chance." Jeremie said.

"And we only have one Aelita." Odd said.

"Go tell the others, I'll tell the news to Aelita." Jeremie said.

It was later in the quad where the student group had gathered with others listening on their comms.

"Guys, its now or never. We may not get a second chance. What if there's some kind of bug? I'll never set up this program again." Jeremie said.

"Whoa, whoa...slow it down. I understand how much you've wanted this but you can't just bring her here like that." Mark said.

"He's right. Aelita has no family, no birth certificate, she's not even enrolled in any school. Okay, that can easily be fixed, but in our world, she doesn't exist." Francisca said.

"She's right. Just imagine it. 'Hello, I'm Aelita. I just got here from a virtual reality.' Do you really think anyone would believe something like that?" David asked.

"Hmm. Well I could always put her up in my place. My parents wouldn't mind." Yumi said.

"And you could hack into city hall and create an identity for her.' Ulrich said.

"As for school, duh. This one right here." Odd said.

"Okay...we'll start first thing tomorrow." Jeremie said.

"Hmm...least no one was around to…" Flamberge said before looking out. "Move!" she said as a thrust moved past them.

"What the? Who are you?" Francisca asked.

"We've finally found you. It wasn't easy...but we did it...Dimensional Heroes!" a voice said as the smoke cleared to show a cricket creature with a mustache and an armored bug creature with twin javelin arms.

"Those are...Kricketune and Escavilier!" Francisca said.

"Correct. We're knights sent down from the bug kingdom of Chrysalia." Kricketune said.

"What do you want with us?" Francisca asked.

"By the orders of our current king, we must eliminate all opposing threats to our invasion. That means all of you." Escavalier said.

"Urgh… Fine, bring it." Francisca said.

"Are you crazy, Franny? Zan isn't with us." Flamberge said.

"Yes, but the two of us are more than capable of handling these guys." Francisca said.

"Ha. You underestimate us, knave. But since we're being so generous...you are allowed the first hit." Escavalier said. "But I must warn you, my armored shell is impervious. I will not feel a thing."

"Fine then. I've got just the thing for that." Francisca said as she tossed her labrys in the air before performing a front flip somersault, jumping in the air, catching the labrys and slamming down on Escavalier.

"Keep him busy, Franny! I've got the other one!" Flamberge said drawing her sword.

"You're out of your league, foolish girl." Kricketune said.

"If i had a nickel for everytime I've heard people tell me that." Flamberge said.

"Well...wait, you weren't on the…" Kricketune said before looking at the student group. "A lot of these people...weren't on the roster we saw. They aren't the same group that defeated the Dark Crew."

"(Oh, right…)" Flamberge thought. "(We're in the past way before we were around. So I guess these guys don't know all about Franny, myself and the others on Hope, David and Mark's teams…)"

"This is not good. We didn't think they'd expand in force so quickly." Kricketune said. "Escavalier, we need to retreat. The king must know."

"Retreat? Blasphemy! I am one of Chrysalia's Insect Knights. Running is the mark of a coward." Escavalier said.

"You should've listened to your friend." Francisca said slamming her labrys to Escavalier.

"Didn't I already tell you? You attacks can't hope to break my…my….gah!" he said before falling unconscious.

"We will not forget this. You all will fall to the bug kingdom." Kricketune said collecting his ally before running off.

"Yeah, run back to your hive Bug Brains!" Flamberge called.

"So the Kingdoms have finally come into play…" Hope said.

"Seems that way. But what was that crew they mentioned?" Flamberge asked.

"The Dark Crew. They were the first villains we ever fought during our first adventure together." Dan said. "We won against their plans to stop time and to distort space once we took down Darkrai."

"Sounds pretty insane." David said.

"It was. We had to fight so many powerful Pokemon. We even went up against Dialga and Palkia." Usopp said.

"Wow…" Flamberge said.

"Though that was then...this is now." Pit said. "The Bug Kingdom's back and we're gonna have to fight them."

Later that night in Jeremie's room, Jeremie was on his computer talking with Aelita.

"Are you asleep?" Jeremie asked.

"You know virtual beings don't need to sleep." Aelita said.

"I just can't stop thinking about your materialization and all the things you'll experience here on Earth." Jeremie said.

"I see. Tell me more about your world." Aelita said.

Meanwhile while everyone else slept, a black smoke crept out from a light and went into the bulldozers. The bulldozers then began to move with a will of their own. It was at that same moment an alert went off on Jeremie's computer.

"Oh no. XANA attack." Jeremie said.

Flamberge meanwhile was sleeping in her room before he heard the noise outside and saw the bulldozers moving.

"Oh, come on! At this hour?!" Flamberge said getting up and getting on her comm. "WAKE UP GUYS! XANA's attacking with bulldozers!" she shouted into it.

"Ow! You know you don't need to shout, right?" Kaminari said in the comm.

"Sorry. Force of Habit." Flamberge said.

It didn't take long before the student group hurried out to see the bulldozers moving across the stadium, wrecking anything in their path.

"Flamberge was right, XANA is attacking with bulldozers. Way to be subtle." Odd said.

"Jeremie, go to the factory and try to contact Yumi. We'll stop the bulldozers." Ulrich said.

"Okay, just be careful." Jeremie said as they hurried off with Ulrich jumping onto one of the bulldozers.

"Ulrich, get off there!" Fuyuhiko called.

"Actually, Ulrich has the right idea." David said.

"He's right. They can't ram into us if we ride on top of them." Natsu said as they saw the one Ulrich was riding on drive off. "What the? Where's it going?"

"I have a good idea where...just hope I'm wrong." Eijiro said.

"Let's book it." David said.

The group cut ahead of the bulldozers to the factory.

"Oh I knew it. He took over the bulldozers to try and tear down the factory." Eijiro said.

"Not good. We need to get down there, now." David said.

"I'll stay behind. You guys better hurry on." Eijiro said.

"Right. We're counting on you, Eijiro." David said.

Eijiro stayed behind to block the bulldozers for as long as he could, hardening his body as he took each of their strikes while protecting the factory at the same time.

"I have to hold XANA back for as long as I can…! If one single bulldozer gets by me, we're finished!" Eijiro said. "It's up to me to protect them! I'm not going to run away again."

The bulldozers continued to bash against him as the others on Lyoko hurried through the forest as best they could to reach the tower.

"We need to hurry. If we don't reach the tower before the bulldozers get to the factory, we're sunk." David said.

"We need to hurry through. Eijiro is doing his best to hold them back. I know he can harden but...even he has to have limits." Flamberge said as they were approached by several kankerlats. "Great. More bugs."

David starts shooting at some of the kankerlats.

"Why can't you all just bug off!" Flamberge said slashing away at some of them before seeing Yumi ahead battling some before one blasted her in the back. "Yumi!"

David dashed at the kankerlats, blasting them as well. "Don't worry, Yumi! I'm coming!"

"Hurry David!" Yumi called before seeing a large blok attempting to fire at him from behind. She quickly gained balance as she moved past him, checking it off the edge, following after it into the digital sea.

"Yumi! Why did you do it? I was supposed to be the one to save you!" David said.

"That Block was about to hit you, David. She sacrificed herself to save you." Flamberge said.

"Not again… Am I going to lose another friend like this again?" David asked.

"David, don't think that way!" Flamberge said getting his attention. "Remember, no one actually dies on Lyoko, Yumi's avatar just gets devirtualized."

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way in this case, Berge. When someone falls into the Digital Sea, they're lost into the network." Francisca said.

"Not...entirely. While we were planning it for Aelita...we do have something to save her." Miu said on the comm.

"She's right, it's the only way." Leopardmon said on the comm.

"Aelita...Do it. Deactivate the tower." David said.

"But… what about Aelita?" Jeremie asked.

"It's okay, Jeremie. I can wait a little longer." Aelita assured as she went in and deactivated the tower. "Besides, I want everyone to be there when I become real."

The RTTP soon activated and the group was in the factory, preparing the materialization program for Yumi. Once it had finished, one of the scanners in the room glowed bright before opening as Yumi was shown laying inside of it.

"Welcome home, Yumi." Fuyuhiko smiled.

"But… how did I get back?" Yumi asked.

"I'm glad Yumi is back but...it cost us the code." Jeremie said.

"At least you know the program works. You just have to set it up again. I have faith in all of you." Aelita said.

Meanwhile, David was having a discussion with his group in the forest…

"I'm sorry you all had to see me like that again. The thought of losing Yumi, it just kept bringing those memories back." David said. "I'm sorry. I tried to be a strong, dependable leader so that I wouldn't lose anyone again, but in reality, I'm no different than anyone else."

"No, that's wrong!" Shuichi said. "David, you're more great of a leader than you think. You are one of the key leaders of our alliance with Jexi, Hope and Mark. You figure out the best way to tackle problems, your strategies and mindset are what get us out of tough situations. So you aren't any different from anyone else… you're unique in a way only you can be, and it's the same for Hope, Jexi and Mark."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Saihara is absolutely right." Cheetah said. "Besides, no one is invincible. Take it from me, I've lost to you countless times before KOF, but that's because you rely on your own strength to win your battles. You can't let a single blemish get to you."

"She's got a point. And we're going to need that strength if we're going to tackle the Kingdoms, the Lost Thieves and XANA." Sachiko said.

"So don't get so down in the dumps. It's too early to start acting like that. After all, all you can give is the best you've got." Captain Cold said.

"Thank you...everyone." David said.

"No problem." Shuichi said. "You were there for us. It's only fitting we are there for you."

Meanwhile…

"...the Dimensional Heroes' ranks are larger than we thought. It appears they have been recruiting immensely ever since defeating the Dark Crew." a Levanny said. "What do you make of this, King Pineco?"

"What do I make of this...it's easy. More players for Pokemari!" Pineco said happily.

"My king, with all due respect, I don't believe Pokemari is the first thing on their minds." Levanny said. "We should press our attack on them immediately. Shall I send for Yanmega and the Air Force?"

"Of course. I'll allow it. Then after we conquer this world and them...we can play Pokemari all day long." Pineco said with joy.

"Sometimes I wonder how you even became king…." Leavanny muttered with a sigh.


	10. Image Problem

It was in the Ice Sector where Aelita, Yumi and Maki were making their way towards the tower.

"Did you find the tower?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes...but it seems offly calm." Maki said.

"Stay on your guard." Jeremie said.

"Maki, you stay and protect Aelita, I'm going to check around." Yumi said.

"Alright. We're counting on you." Maki said.

Aelita and Maki then entered the tower and checked it out. "Jeremie? I'm not sensing anything out of the ordinary. Are you sure this is the right tower?" Aelita asked.

"That was what the scan picked up. At least what it told us." Jeremie said.

As Yumi stood watch outside, she was suddenly attacked and released a loud scream.

"Yumi!" Maki called as she left the tower. She couldn't find Yumi in sight. "We have a problem. Yumi's gone."

"What?! She couldn't have just vanished!" Jeremie gawked. "Wait, hang on, a scanner just opened. I'll bring Maki back first and head right down."

Jeremie got off the computer before running down to see Maki looking at an unconscious Yumi inside the scanner.

"She seems to be in critical condition. I'll take her to the nurse." Maki said.

It wasn't till later in the day that the student group saw Maki carrying Yumi to the nurse's office.

"Now how exactly did this happen?" the nurse asked.

"She has been studying a lot, and she suddenly felt sick and collapsed in the quad." Maki said.

"Thank you. I'll take good care of her." the nurse said. "You can go now."

"Thank you." Maki said as she left.

As soon as Maki had left, Yumi had soon regained consciousness.

"Well, feeling better?" the nurse asked.

Yumi was soon getting up and tried to leave.

"I know your feeling better, but you need to lay down." she said before Yumi grabbed her hand as the nurse screamed at what happened next.

_Meanwhile in the quad…_

"She was really devirtualized, just like that?" Shuichi asked.

"The weird thing was that she still had all of her life points when it happened, and was unconscious at the scanner." Miu said.

"Hmm...something doesn't feel right…" Mark mused.

"What doesn't feel right?" a voice asked as they saw Yumi next to them.

"Guess you're feeling better, huh?" Odd said.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Francisca asked.

Yumi just shrugged and tried to walk off, but Ulrich grabbed her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired. Let's go over to the factory." Yumi said.

"Not in your condition. Besides, it's lunch time." David said.

"Agreed, you should join us. I heard the main lunch is hamburgers today." Double D added.

Meanwhile on Lyoko, Aelita was in a tower til she felt the disturbance. She ventured out to see a large bubble in the distance. She then ran towards it.

Back at Kadic, the group sat down to eat.

"So you don't remember anything?" Jeremie asked.

"Could the scanners have some kind of bug?" David asked.

"That could be it. They might be becoming a health problem. And speaking of health problems…" Fuyuhiko said as Sissi headed over to them.

"Ulrich. What do you say we get together after school?" Sissi asked.

"You and me after school? No thanks!" Ulrich said.

"Why don't you go out with her? She seems really nice and pretty." Yumi said.

"Okay, that is definitely weird. Yumi would never say something like that. At least to Ulrich." David said.

"Well, someone is finally wising up. Later, Ulrich." Sissi said walking off.

"What's with you today?" Ulrich asked.

"Nothing. I just think it is time for you to go out with Sissi." Yumi said before Delmas's hand was on her shoulder.

"Miss Ishiyama...I'll have to ask you to come with me to my office." Delmas said.

_Later in the Principal's Office…_

"I am shocked about what you did to Miss Yolanda. 2 hours of detention! Now!" Delmas said as Yumi just stood there. "I sense that you are troubled. Care to tell me about it? It is my job to help you." he asked as she still stood there. "If you keep this up, I'll have to call your parents."

"Not my parents." Yumi said grabbing the phone before Delmas could. She then bashed him in the head with it, knocking him out as she walked out without a care.

_Meanwhile in Jeremie's room…_

"As soon as I got close to the area where the guardian was, the monsters attacked me." Aelita said.

"You shouldn't have left the tower like that." Jeremie said. "But this may have something to do with what happened to Yumi."

"Should I go back there?" Aelita asked.

"Not alone. I'll send Ulrich and Odd as backup." Jeremie said.

"But what if the same thing happens to them?" Aelita asked.

"Hmm...you're right. We shouldn't risk it." Jeremie said. "Just be careful."

"Okay." Aelita said as she left. As soon as she left, Yumi quickly entered the room.

"Yumi! What did the principal want?" Jeremie asked.

"We have to go to the factory now." Yumi said.

"But there's no reason to go and you need to rest." Jeremie said.

"I need to go to the scanner room." Yumi said.

"No. Not until I give the order." Jeremie said before Yumi leaned closer to him and removed his glasses.

"I need to go to the scanner room." Yumi said.

"Uh…" Jeremie said blushing as Yumi leaned closer just as the others opened the door.

"Hey Jeremie, is...whoa...uh...this is not something I was expecting." Pit said.

"Yumi, personal space!" Mark said. "Respect it!"

"Mark, that's not the issue right now." David said as Ulrich ran off. "Wait! Ulrich!" he said going after Ulrich.

"Wait! It's not what it looks like! Ulrich!" Jeremie shouted, going after him.

"Way to go." Odd said as everyone else went after, leaving Yumi behind as she smiled.

It was soon after that classes ended for the day…

"Listen, Ulrich. Yumi's not herself. She's not in her right state." David said. "But… Maybe Aelita has found something that might help us bring her back to normal."

"Fine. Let's go." Ulrich said.

Meanwhile on Lyoko, Aelita had gotten close to the guardian and saw the inside and was shocked. Before anything else could happen, the monsters began to attack and she ducked into the hole in the ice.

Back at Kadic as the group returned to Jeremie's room, they saw that everything was torn apart.

"Oh… This is a disaster!" Mayumi said.

"I know. Wait...who was the last one to leave the room?" Double D asked.

"No...it's not possible." Ulrich said.

"She has been acting strange." Odd said.

"Okay, Yumi hasn't been herself, but the enemy is Xana. He's launched an attack." Ulrich said.

"So...are we going to the factory?" Yumi asked as she arrived.

"I'll have Sectonia and Barbara come, just in case." David said.

"Uh...somehow I don't think that's gonna be possible." Asta said pointing out to a large swarm in the distance over where the Sunny and factory were.

"Oh, this is just great." David said.

"Wow...these kingdoms really have a terrible sense of timing." Flamberge said.

"Eh...they'll just join us once all the bugs go down." Luffy said.

"Yeah...this is a walk in the park for them." Dan said.

As they hurried over to the factory, the group that stayed on the Sunny was quick to start defending it against the numerous dragonfly-like creatures attacking them.

"Yanma and a Yanmega...what are the odds?" Sectonia said.

"More likely than usual, apparently." Eddy answered as he punched one of the Yanma. "How come these guys can talk, by the way? Most of the Pokémon we've seen can't do that."

"The Kingdoms are unique. Pretty much all Pokémon who come from them have the ability to speak." Erza said.

"Either way, it looks like we've got some exterminating to do." Captain Cold said.

"Seems the best way to tackle this...would probably be to take out their commander...the Yanmega flying overhead." Leopardmon said.

"And they're the fastest Bug-types. We'll need to match him speed for speed." UlforceVeedramon said.

"Though that shouldn't be a problem for you." Sanji said.

"Of course. Just leave it to me." UlforceVeedramon said.

"Foolish...creature. You can't take me or my soldiers down. We're Chrysalia's top Air Force! Shoot him down! Sonic Boom!" Yanmega said as he and the Yanma started unleashing powerful Sonic Boom attacks.

"Victory Sword!" UlforceVeedramon said as energy blades came out of his bracelets and he slashes away at the Yanma. "Now for my new technique. Dragon Impulse X!" he surrounds himself in the aura of a dragon, and rams against Yanmega. He then unleashes both Ulforce Sabers and slashes Yanmega in an X-shaped pattern.

"Not...possible." Yanmega groaned as he was seen falling out of the air.

"He's taken out the commander!" one of the Yanma said as they all swarmed to collect their fallen leader before fleeing.

"That was amazing, Veevee!" Sectonia said.

"Ah, it was nothing. I've been working on that one with the other Royal Knights." UlforceVeedramon said.

"Yeah, it shows." Vashyron said. "We ended up chasing off the entire swarm of them."

"I wonder how the others are doing." Sectonia said.

At the Factory, as Jeremie was working on virtualizing Odd, Ulrich and Yumi, Yumi quickly jumped out of her scanner as it closed.

"Strange. Yumi isn't virtualizing. You check what's up. I'll take care of things here." Miu said.

"Sure." Jeremie said going down. "Hey Yumi...what are you…" he said seeing her taking apart a scanner before moving and knocking him out.

"Odd, Ulrich. I'm afraid you guys are on your own here. Rendezvous with Aelita and free Yumi." Miu said.

"What about you? You're gonna be alone with her." Ulrich said.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Miu said."Now then…" she said heading down to see Yumi unplugging another scanner. "The game's over, faker."

"Grr." the fake Yumi growled as the eye of XANA appeared on her forehead.

"Do your worst. I can take it. I've already died once." Miu said.

"Oh...but it won't just be you who dies." the fake Yumi said. "Once your friends fall to the monsters inside...they'll have no way of ever returning to Earth...after I destroy the scanners."

"Yeah right, bitch! You think I'm gonna let you get away with this?!" Miu asked.

"You're just some weak human girl. I'm much more advanced. I can easily eliminate you. But first...I'll just get rid of this last scanner." she said before it opened. "Huh?" she said before the real Yumi slugged her.

"Yumi! You're okay!" Miu said.

"You can thank Aelita and the guys for that. They said you and Jeremie were alone so I decided to take the easy way back." Yumi said.

"Devirtualizing yourself? That's a pretty bold move." Miu said.

"Anyway, thanks for keeping her in check all this time. You get back to the supercomputer so you can launch the Return to the Past. I'll deal with my evil twin." Yumi said.

"Alright. I'll be counting on you." Miu said.

"And FYI, you look like me on a bad day." Yumi said as her fake lunged at her and the two started fighting one another.

Miu took this moment to return to the supercomputer. "Guys, can you hear me?"

"Loud and Clear, Miu!" Odd said. "What's the status on Evil Yumi?"

"The real Yumi is taking care of her." Miu said.

"How's it going?" Ulrich asked.

"Uh…" Miu said looking down to see the evil Yumi quickly overpowering the real one. "I think it's about even."

"We'd better finish this up then." Ulrich said.

Ulrich and Odd fended off the monsters long enough for Aelita to deactivate the tower. Once it was deactivated, the fake Yumi soon faded out of existence as the RTTP was soon launched, returning them to earlier in the day.

"I can't believe that fake was able to fool us so easily." Flamberge said.

"Not really. She may have looked and sounded like the Yumi we know, but she was far from perfect." Hiyoko said.

"Although...XANA ended up helping us unintentionally." Yaoyorozu said. "He proved materialization of a virtual being is possible."

"Yes. And that only serves as fuel for Jeremie's program." Francisca said.

"I'm just glad nobody was fooled by that Fake Yumi." Hope said.

"As soon as we noticed her unusual behaviors, there wasn't a doubt in our minds that XANA created a copy of Yumi." Shuichi said.

"Even I wasn't fooled, not even when it tried to flirt with me." Jeremie added.

"Uh huh...sure you weren't." Pit said as the rest of the group laughed.


	11. End of Take

At Kadic, the students have gathered watching a film. In it we see a woman cowering in a corner while an alien tries to eat and kill her. Before it could, a man shot it through the stomach thereby killing it. The woman then walked towards the man and kissed him. The movie then ended. The students then cheered as the lights came on.

"Boy, am I glad that's over." David said.

"Right...you don't care for horror films. Yeah...guess some people can't take them." Usopp said with his knees shaking.

"Students! Your attention please. I would like you to give a warm welcome to the director of the movie you have all seen and found...interesting. Please welcome the man here to talk about cinema, James Finson." Delmas said as a man approached the stage.

"I'm also here to seek out a location for my next movie. I've heard about an old abandoned factory that would be perfect." James said.

"A factory? Oh no, not ours." Jeremie said.

"This is not good. If he finds out about the supercomputer, we're through." Miu said.

"No sweat. I know exactly how to turn him away." Ulrich said walking off to talk with him.

_5 minutes later…_

"Please tell us he's changing location." Mark said.

"No, he isn't. He wants me to show him around." Ulrich said.

"Great…you became his tour guide." Fuyuhiko said.

"Actually master, if Ulrich is able to make sure Mr. Finson doesn't see the Supercomputer or the elevator that leads to all the equipment, we should be able to keep the factory's secrets safe." Peko said.

"She's right. Plus we could come up with lots of things to scare him off." Pit said.

"He's a horror film maker. It's not going to work." David said.

"David's right, scary will only draw him in." Mark added. "Unsafe working conditions, on the other hand…"

"You mean...sabotage the factory on purpose?" Mina asked.

"Hmm...it might work. He's not going to want a lawsuit on his hands." Usopp said.

"Yeah, yeah!" Mark replied. "All we have to do is keep him away from the rooms where the technical parts are. So, we make it look like the elevator is unsafe and he'll just stick to the safe parts! It's a win-win!"

"How the heck are we gonna do that?" Flamberge said. "Well, I could always cut the elevator cables with my sword and…"

"NO! If you cut the cables, that means the elevator will crash down to the supercomputer floor! Damage central!" Ibuki said.

"Exactly. Which is why we're going to simply make it stop mid-way." Mark explained. "No one likes getting stuck in elevators, right?"

"Okay...how about we move away from the elevator. We could always try sabotaging his equipment." Usopp said.

"That would just get us arrested." Hope said. "I know. Ulrich, why not try and persuade him not to film the factory by making up stuff?"

"Not a bad idea. I know a couple of things that might change his mind." Ulrich nodded.

It was later as the film crew was setting up that Ulrich was talking to Finson about the factory.

"You should really reconsider. This place is crawling with rats." Ulrich said.

"Rats? Perfect. I have a lot of scenes with rats in them." James said.

The group secretly watched from afar.

Hope facepalmed and sighed. "Well that backfired…."

"It's like I said before. This guy lives on horror stuff." David said.

"Don't worry Hope, it's not that we're gonna tell you this was a bad idea." Odd said. "It's just we now know to never let Ulrich handle stuff like this."

"...and I'm sure that after a couple of years, the Uranium stored under here won't be radioactive anymore." Ulrich continued talking with James.

"Sure. Do you know where that freight elevator leads?" James asked.

"That thing stopped working ages ago, but when it was working…" Ulrich said as they heard noises. "Did I mention that there is an old rumor that this place was haunted by ghosts but I don't believe a word of it?"

"This place gets better and better." James said.

_Up above…_

"That was a close one." Hope said.

"Yeah...still nothing phases this guy. He's never going to leave." Pit said.

"Just so long as he doesn't get any interest in where the elevator leads, we should be safe." Peko said.

"You seem to know a lot about this place. How about being the Technical Advisor for the film?" James asked.

"All right then. I'll be your technical advisor. But the principal won't let me skip classes." Ulrich said.

"You just leave him to me." James said.

_Later in Jeremie's Room…_

"So he let you join, right?" Kazuichi asked.

"On the condition that Sissi gets a part in it as well." Ulrich said.

"Ulrich and Sissi. An onscreen romance. How romantic." Odd said.

"You're joking. She won't leave me alone for one second." Ulrich said.

"Regardless, Ulrich now has a way to keep Mr. Finson away from the supercomputer." Peko said.

"Oh, I just know that the setting of this movie is gonna be crazy." David said.

"Yeah, could be another Alien movie. But…" Hope said. "I'm just worried that Ulrich might be in for a rough time."

"He's just gonna be the technical advisor for James and Sissi's with him on set, how hard can it be?" Kazuichi asked.

_Later at the Factory…_

"Cellphones?" a woman asked the two.

"Yes, we have cellphones." Sissi said.

"Confiscated." she said taking their cellphones.

"You see, we don't allow cell phones so people won't leak to tabloids or the media." a man working on set said.

"But what if we need to call our parents?" Ulrich asked.

"Never a problem with James Finson around." the man said.

"Isn't this romantic? You and me, isolated from the rest of the world." Sissi said.

"Yeah. Real romantic." Ulrich said.

The film crew then gathered around a tarp.

"Now allow me to introduce the main character of the film." James said pulling back the tarp to show a life like alien monster underneath. "This is my best work yet. I even made it able to shoot a sticky goo."

"Wasn't this thing in another alien movie?" Ulrich asked.

"My creations are original." James said offended a bit.

"Mr. Finson. I was wondering if I could get my script. I wanna start working on my lines. We big stars like to be prepared." Sissi said.

"Here you go." James said handing her a sheet of paper.

"Aaaah!" Sissi read in confusion.

"You got it. You'll be the alien's first victim. 20 seconds on screen but 20 minutes of glory." James said.

Sissi just growled with anger at what he said. Later that night, as most of the film crew went to sleep, Ulrich slipped out with Sissi secretly following. As they both passed the alien, a black smoke crawled from the cables and entered the alien bringing it to life. Ulrich then arrived at the supercomputer.

"Jeremie? Jexi? Anyone awake?" Ulrich asked.

"You know what time it is?" Jeremie said.

"Sorry, they confiscated my phone. Finson's so paranoid." Ulrich said.

"Well, well. What kind of weird place is this?" Sissi said arriving.

"Please tell me that wasn't just Sissi I heard?" Jeremie groaned.

"Listen Sissi, do you think you can keep this a secret?" Ulrich asked.

"Or what? It's not like there are any spiders down here. Or, don't tell me…a monster will spit goo on me?" Sissi scoffed.

Just then, some goo and thread fell onto Sissi. She and Ulrich looked up to see the alien and a swarm of green spiders. The two then ran to the elevator and shut it.

"Ulrich? Ulrich!" Jeremie shouted. "I'll have to contact the others."

Jeremie then contacted the others as they headed to the factory.

"Keep quiet, we don't want the film crew to realize we're here." Mark whispered.

"Man… This place gives me the creeps…" David muttered.

"It's the set of a horror movie, what were you expecting?" Pit asked as they saw a few of the green spiders scurrying about. "Spinarak."

"Seriously, Chrysalia. This set is creepy enough as it is." David said.

"Ah...something just leeched onto me." Kaminari said trying to get several small yellow tick creatures on his back.

"Those are Joltik. They seem attracted to you, Kaminari. You are basically a walking power battery." Sachiko said.

"Well get off!" Kaminari said.

"Foolish battery! You cannot discard us. We're part of Chrysalia's jailer squadron. You cannot just…" one Joltik said as Sachiko grabbed a broom. "She's got a broom!" they said before they all jumped off.

"Yeah, you better run." Sachiko said. "Still, why do I get the feeling they're not done with us yet…?"

"Cause whenever there are smaller jailers...there are normally head jailers with them." Ruby said. "I speak from my experience in Avia."

"What's the evolved form of Joltik again?" Jesse asked.

"That would be...Galvantula!" Leia said.

They looked up to see one crawling across the ceiling before dropping down before them. "What's this? Seems we have intruders here." Galvantula said.

"Yep. I knew it." Leia said.

"Of course you would. You have one on your Pokémon team, after all." Jude said.

"Same here. From the Wild Area." Sectonia said.

"King Pineco has asked Head Jailer Ariados and myself to capture the Dimensional Heroes! Oh...but I went and leaked it." Galvantula said.

"So sorry, but we're not going anywhere." Sachiko said.

"If that's the case...Electroweb!" Galvantula said firing an electrified web at them.

Sachiko was able to slice apart the web with her twin blades. "I've got this. You guys go on ahead."

"You've just become my prey, girl!" Galvantula said charging at Sachiko as the others ran ahead.

"Whirlwind!" Sachiko said as she dealt multiple slashes before spinning mid-jump and performing another strike.

"Gah!" Galvantula cried out as he took heavy damage.

Sachiko switches to her broadsword. "Twin Moons!" she said as she performed an X-slash.

"Gh…how strong…are you?!" Galvantula asked.

"I stood against Crusadermon and Leopardmon of the Royal Knights. I'm not afraid of you." Sachiko said.

"Too bad that won't help against me!" a voice said as thread was shot at her as she dodged as she saw a red spider on the ceiling.

"Ariados. Urgh… I'm getting flashbacks from Viperia." Sachiko said.

"Really? I have a brother in Viperia. That's probably him you're referring to." Ariados said. "Wait, what am I doing? I'm working."

"Apologies in advance, but you won't defeat me. I know my way around Poison-types." Sachiko said.

"Oh really? I'll enjoy tangling you up in my web." Ariados said shooting some thread at her.

"Tiger Blitz!" Sachiko said as she dealt a thrust, then an upward slash. "Bone Crusher!" she said as she dealt a spinning slash, then a side slash in the opposite direction.

"Gah!" Ariados cried as he fell from the ceiling to the ground.

"Whew… Didn't even break a sweat on that one." Sachiko said.

"You! Hold it right there!" a voice shouted as James spotted Sachiko. "Okay you, fess up. What have you done with my alien?"

"Your alien? What are you talking about? I haven't seen any aliens since I got here." Sachiko said.

It was just then the alien in question walked right into the room.

"Um… Is it supposed to move on its own?" Sachiko asked.

"No..no it is…" James said before the alien encased him in slime.

"Oh, crap. I gotta get out of here." Sachiko said as she started running.

_Meanwhile, deeper in the factory…_

"I've just about had it with these spiders!" Eddy shouted as he threw one of the Spinarak into a few other soldiers, knocking them to the ground.

"It just goes to show you how determined the Kingdoms can be!" Hope said fighting off a group of Spinarak. "Trust me when I say that when they set their sights on conquest, they don't let up till they're defeated!"

"Will you two battle maniacs settle down? One of them is Shun's Perfect Link." David said.

"Right…" Hope said easing up. "Sorry, David."

"Yeah, you're right." Eddy agreed. "But how're we supposed to find 'em when they all look the same?"

"You aren't listening...we aren't here to fight them off, we're here to find…" Pit said as the alien burst through a wall. "Alien?!"

"How did this thing find us?!" David asked.

"No idea...but I think I know how it's moving!" Eddy said as he saw the eye of XANA on it.

"Wow...he really went all out this time." Pit said as one of its tentacles grabbed his throat.

"Pit!" David shouted.

"Quick...get to the scanners, deactivate the tower…" Pit said.

"But we can't just leave you. You'll die before we even get there." Dan said.

"Oh...this is going to…" Pit said before the alien went and shut down. "Huh?"

"You know, you guys were way too slow on this." Miu said standing nearby.

"Man, Miu. You're a lifesaver." David said.

"Yeah...you should be thanking Aelita. We were able to get her to the tower before this guy could finish the job." Miu said. "Man this thing is hideous."

"You're telling me." David said.

"I'll tell you what, David…" Hope said. "I'm making sure we don't rent any horror movies again."

"Yeah, like that's gonna stop some of these guys." David said as the RTTP was activated.

It took them back to earlier in the day during the site scouting.

"So, you've decided to use the factory as a film site, huh?" David asked.

"Well, my ideas are usually ingenious." James said.

"Really now? Because I've heard rumors that some other movies were shot there." David said.

"What?!" James exclaimed.

"Oh yeah. A few of them even featured aliens." David said.

James then got his cell out and headed outside. "I've given it some thought and I don't think the factory's a good idea. Besides, it wasn't my idea in the first place. You know, I can find another producer." he said.

David went back to the school group.

"Nice." Odd said.

"Ah, it was nothing. Besides, it's for the best." David said.

"Yep. I think even those bugs won't be lurking around anytime soon." Sachiko said.

"Not after the beating you gave them." David said.

_Meanwhile, in the bug kingdom…_

"We lost...to that girl? How humiliating." Ariados said.

"We're never going to live this down." Galvantula said.

"Wait, you two went out?" a Scyther asked. "Then...who was watching the jail?"

"Wait...don't tell us." Galvantula started.

"Oh...crap." Ariados said looking at an empty cell. "We really need to talk about the king and his judgments."

"Or...we could talk to...him." Galvantula said.

"Ah...yeah. He's been in thought for many years. The smartest person in all of Chrysalia...maybe even all the kingdoms...the kingdom's top thinker and strategist...Orbeetle." Ariados said.


	12. Satellite

We open to science class at Kadic to see the gang sitting down listening to the lesson.

"Now if you provoke a collision between two neutrons, what do you obtain? Does anyone know the answer?" Hertz asked.

As Herb went to raise his hand, everyone's cells inside of the classroom started ringing at the same time. Upon answering them, they were surprised to hear no one on the other ends of the calls.

"Sissi? Surely you as the principal's daughter, you know the policy about cellphones." Hertz asked.

"All cellphones must be shut off or put on vibrate under the threat of having them taken away." Sissi said.

"That's right. Everyone, as you head out the door, please put all of your cellphones on the counter!" Hertz said.

As the bell rang, the students surrendered their cellphones and left the classroom. As soon as the student group left, they ran into Yumi.

"Guys! The weirdest thing just happened. All of a sudden, our phones rang and-" Yumi said.

"And the teacher confiscated them. Us too." Kaminari said.

"But the weirdest part was that no one was on the other end." David said.

"That cannot just be a coincidence. I'll contact Aelita. I think this might involve XANA." Jeremie said.

"We have to do something about this." Hope said.

"Like what?" Usopp asked.

"Hey, you guys! I'm organizing a protest to get our mobiles back. Well, are you with us?" Sissi said approaching them.

"Oh yeah. We're in." Sachiko said.

"Really? Then meet us in the auditorium after lunch." Sissi said.

_Meanwhile with Jeremie…_

"Aelita, are you there?" Jeremie asked.

"What is it, Jeremie?" Aelita asked.

"Have you noticed anything on Lyoko?" Jeremie asked.

"No, I haven't." Aelita said. "Should I have?"

"It's all right. I'll run a full scan." Jeremie said. "I'll let you know what I detect."

"I'll go feel for pulsations." Aelita said.

"Just be careful." Jeremie said.

_Meanwhile in the cafeteria…_

"You're going to try and take your cellphone back? That's stealing." Yaoyorozu said.

"Taking back what belongs to you is not what I would call stealing. Besides, I'll have people watching my back." Odd said.

"Don't worry Momo, we'll be careful." Mark assured.

"That wasn't the…" Yaoyorozu said as they left. "Sigh."

As the two snuck around, they overheard Delmas speaking with Jim.

"The students were warned. I'm not going to return their phones so easily. We should deactivate the antenne too. That way with new phones, they can't use them. Jim. Can you manage that?"

"Yes, sir. Right away." Jim said.

The two continued to the classroom as Ulrich was on look out.

"Coast is clear." Ulrich said.

The two of them snuck inside as they picked the lock and located their missing cellphones, grabbing them before returning to the dorms.

"Mission accomplished." Odd said.

"You got very lucky." Yaoyorozu said. "Just hope no one finds out about this."

Kiwi then sniffled the phones and barked a bit.

"Aw c'mon Kiwi, it's perfectly safe." Hope said. "There aren't any activated towers, so what's the big-" Hope picked up Odd's phone before seeing XANA's insignia on the screen. "Nevermind!"

"They're on all these phones." Pit said. "But why would XANA care about mobile phones?"

"Not sure...but I should take a look at the school antennae to check it out." Jeremie said.

"I'm gonna go to the meeting. I promised Sissi." Sachiko said.

"Are you sure? I don't think Crusadermon would be okay with you being put at risk." David said.

"Don't worry. I'll go with her so she won't totally be alone." Yumi said.

_At Chrysaila…._

"You want to ask Orbeetle for his assistance?!" Levanny asked, herself and Pineco having heard Galvantula and Ariados's request.

"I know it sounds crazy, Miss Leavanny, but the Dimensional Heroes are incredibly strong. If Orbeetle were to help us, he'd turn the tide drastically." Ariados said.

"Orbeetle is wiser and more adept to battle than all of us. We need his wisdom here and now." Galvantula said.

"Fine." Leavanny said as they headed to an old building. Opening it up, it was a massive library with books flying all about with a ladybug like creature flying in the center. "Orbeetle!"

"Yes...what is it?" a voice echoed in their minds.

"We need your sage advice." Ariados said. "We're…"

"Facing the Hero Alliance, a group that comes from an alternative timeline and has replaced the solo Dimensional Heroes of this timeline." Orbeetle said.

"What? How did you…" Galvantula said.

"I spend all of my time learning and peering into nearby minds to acquire knowledge of the outside world. Such information does not slip my notice." Orbeetle said.

"Ah, so that explains why there were so many of them." Leavanny said. "What would be the best course of action then?"

"Hmm...tell me...I know the cell was empty. How many prisoners escaped?" Orbeetle asked.

"Just one prisoner." Galvantula said.

"I see. Hmm. Assemble Scolipede and his Poison Strike Force. Send them not after the prisoner...but into the school grounds near the forest." Orbeetle said. "If we send them after the prisoner, this would result in all of them attacking his forces. But by attacking on school grounds, they'll prioritize evacuation over battle."

"I see. We'll send them off immediately." Leavanny said.

_Meanwhile on the roof of the school…_

"What the? What do you think you're doing? Stopping me from disconnecting the antennae?" Jim said.

"Us? Never." Ulrich said.

"Well too bad cause…" Jim said as he touched the antennae only to be met with a powerful electrical shock that sent him back.

"We'll...get him to the infirmary." Jesse said carrying him off.

"Hmm...let's see what's going on here." Jeremie said checking the antennae's signal before it transferred to a far off building.

"That's the main television antenna, isn't it?" Hope asked.

"Yeah. Just what is XANA up to?" Yaoyorozu said.

"Can't be anything good." Hope said.

Meanwhile in the auditorium, several students signed a petition to allow cellphone use again.

"Well well, Miss Sachiko and Miss Yumi have decided to grace us with their presence." Sissi said.

It was then that Principal Delmas had arrived with some of the faculty.

"Elizabeth! What is going on here?!" Delmas asked.

"Daddy, I mean sir! What is going on is this! The students have spoken and want their cellphones back." Sissi said.

"Sorry, but the students are not the ones to make the rules. I'm sorry, but this step is another reason for not returning them to you." Delmas said.

The two girls noticed Jeremie waving to them from the window.

"Also, a student had the nerve to steal back their own from Ms. Hertz's locker. Were investigating who could've done such a thing." Delmas said as the two exited the room.

"Then we won't set foot in class until we get our phones back!" Sissi said.

_In Jeremie's Room…_

"XANA is using the school's antenna to get to the main television antenna." Jeremie said.

"And that's why our phones rang?" Eijiro asked.

"Yes. It jams their frequencies. If XANA uses the dish, he will have access to the satellites orbiting the world. One of them being a military satellite with a built-in laser. In other words…" Jeremie said.

"He'll have a weapon that can fire at us anytime and anywhere." Terra said.

"There's been an activated tower as well as reports of Chrysalia mobilizing. They're heading towards the school." Miu said.

"Of course they are." Ibuki said. "Looks like we'll have another full day today."

The group then left for the factory, leaving Kiwi behind. However, being the smart dog he was, Kiwi was able to leap up to the doorknob, turning it and following after them on his small little legs and find his way out. Just as the group was about to seperate, they came across the protest that Sissi was leading.

"No more phones, no more school. Perfect." Sissi said as she got the rest of her protest to chant it.

"I'll stay here in case Chrysalia tries to attack." Sachiko said.

"I better stay with her." Yumi said.

"Hey, you two! Are you in or not?" Sissi shouted.

"Of course we're in. No more phones, no more school!" Yumi chanted.

"Good, good. Keep it up." Sissi said.

"Alright, let's head to the factory and stop XANA." Hope said.

Discovering they were being accompanied by Kiwi on the way, the group arrived at the factory.

"Okay...according to the computer, the tower's located in the ice sector." Jeremie said. "You all better get down there."

"We're on it." Hope said. "Okay, who's going with Ulrich and Odd?"

"Well, it's in the ice sector, so... David, how about you go?" Mark suggested.

"Sure, why not?" David asked.

"Okay. Here goes. Transfer, Ulrich! Transfer, Odd! Transfer, David! Scanner, Ulrich! Scanner, Odd! Scanner, David! Virtualization!" Jeremie said sending the three right on into Lyoko. "Good news. XANA still hasn't gotten to the TV dish. That gives us a little time."

"Wonder what satellite he's after?" Hope asked.

"He's after something up in space…" Ibuki said.

"Uh...I think this was explained earlier...he wants that military satellite." Sero said.

"The satellite is extremely accurate as a weapon and it's about to be in orbit above us." Jeremie said.

"He wouldn't aim for the factory. He'd destroy himself in the process." Pit said.

"Only other option is...the school!" Leia realized.

"We can't warn her without a mobile." Jeremie said.

"Oh but we can. See...we have a carrier pigeon." Dan said holding Kiwi.

"Well, carrier dog...but he should still do the job." Frisk said writing a note.

_Back at Kadic….._

"No more phones, No more school! No more phones, No more school!" the students chanted repeatedly. While they were protesting to Delmas, an army of Venipede and Whirlipede were hiding in the cover of the forest nearby.

"Commander Scolipede, we are in position. Do we attack now?" a Whirlipede asked.

"Yeah...unleash a Poison Sting barrage at the kids." Scolipede said. "That should draw them out."

"But is this really right? Firing at a bunch of school kids?" another Whirlipede asked.

"I don't like it anymore than you do. But Orbeetle's strategies have never been wrong before." Scolipede said.

"Right. We'll prepare for...wait...something feels off." Venipede said. "A sense of danger in the air."

"I demand that all of you stop at once!" Delmas said coming out.

It was at that moment that Yumi and Sachiko were approached by Kiwi.

"What the? You two...my office now!" Delmas said grabbing them both.

"The oppressors have Yumi and Sachiko!" Sissi said as the protesters roared in disgust as the two were brought into his office.

"Civil disobedience, this dog at our school. This isn't like you two." Delmas said.

Yumi soon took the note from Kiwi's collar and looked at it in shock. "Sorry but we need to go. And you probably should too." Yumi said passing it off to Sachiko.

"She's right, sir. Everyone in the school has to leave immediately." Sachiko said. The two then headed for the door. The two of them soon met back with the protest.

"He let you go?" Sissi asked.

"No, we escaped. In fact...we should increase the strength of our movement by rallying the other schools!" Sachiko said. "I mean, for all we know, this could be affecting them as well."

"Yes. And we should start by going to the farthest school in the city...maybe even the country." Yumi said.

Sissi pondered this before turning to the protesters. "Everyone! Let's go! We need the other schools on our side!" Sissi shouted as they agreed with her.

"Sir, they're gonna be out of range!" Whirlipede said.

"Shut it. The danger...can you still sense it?" Scolipede asked the Venipede.

"Yes and it keeps growing larger." Venipede said.

Meanwhile back at the factory, the group inside continued towards the tower as Odd just got devirtualized.

"Oh. Not good! XANA has the satellite! And the target is...oh no. Yumi!" Jeremie said.

"Don't worry...I'll go and warn her." Odd said.

"Oh no… Sachiko is there too. Chrysalia might attack her!" Crusadermon said as she left as well.

_Back at the school…_

"None of you are leaving these grounds." Delmas said standing at the gate.

"Sir, you have to let us leave." Yumi said.

"I've heard enough. Yumi, Sachiko, you two are suspended. I want you and that dog off campus now. Everyone else! Return to your classes! This protest is over." Delmas said.

Sachiko sensed a needle coming right at her before she blocked.

"You idiot, why did you do that?" Scolipede shouted at the Whirlipede.

"But...they're the enemy." Whirlipede said.

"When danger is in the air, you don't just fire recklessly and without orders." Scolipede said.

It was then that Odd arrived on campus.

"Yumi! Sachiko! It's you the satellite's after!" Odd shouted.

As the three ran, the satellite fired. After it hit, it left a large crater in the ground but the two were untouched. They then began to run away from the blasts as the students evacuated.

"See? There was a present danger. An unseen aerial attack." Scolipede said. "This is a good thing to...wait, are they coming our way? Oh my god, scatter!"

The soldiers were quickly scattering as the satellite fired near them.

"Bug kingdom forces?" Sachiko said.

"Okay, we get it. Attacking your school was a mistake. Just call off your aerial attack." Scolipede said.

"I can't. I'm not the one doing it." Sachiko said. "(Oh, what should I do? The satellite's gonna keep going for me, and there are still all of these soldiers surrounding me. Can I really handle all of this alone?)"

"This is it. We're going to die here." a Venipede said.

"(Someone…)" Sachiko thought.

"Sachiko!" a familiar voice rang out.

Sachiko gasped. "That voice!"

Flying towards the army and Sachiko at high speed was Crusadermon.

"Crusadermon! I'm so glad you're here. I'm so sorry for worrying you." Sachiko said.

"It's alright. I'm just glad I made it in time." Crusadermon said.

"We need to get all of these people out of here." Sachiko turned to the Chrysalia forces. "Can I trust you all to help out? I know it seems like a weird request, but if you really intended to hurt the people at the protest, you probably would've done that already while Principal Delmas was holding us up."

"One of my soldiers sensed the incoming danger and we halted. We were only going to fire once it passed." Scolipede said. "Well...those who follow orders anyway." he said glaring at a Whirlipede.

"How many times do I have to say my bad?" Whirlipede asked.

"Don't worry about it. Could've been me if I wasn't so focused on the rally." Sachiko said.

"Look, we know it looks bad, but cooperation is required right now if we all are to escape alive." Scolipede said.

"I agree. We need to get everyone out of here." Sachiko said.

They then started spreading all about the area helping anyone still trapped on the school grounds before they saw Yumi had tripped onto the ground as the satellite fired once more.

"Yumi!" Sachiko went to tackle her out of the way.

"No!" Crusadermon shouted as she went to shield them. Just as the laser was about to hit though, it seemed to suddenly stop in midair. "Whew… Is everyone alright?"

"Yup. We're all good here." Sachiko said.

"They...they must have deactivated the tower." Yumi said sighing in relief.

"Yeah. So...now that the danger has passed…" Scolipede said. "All troops. We're going to...wait...what...what is that?" he said seeing a dome of light approaching the school.

"You're a little late. Should've attacked when you had the chance." Sachiko said.

"Ah damn it!" Scolipede shouted as they were engulfed in the light. The day soon restarted in the school cafeteria as the school group were putting a poster in one of the windows.

"What's that? An invite to a party?" Sissi asked.

"Not quite." David said.

"All students must have their cellphones turned off or else they will be confiscated." she read. "What?! I don't believe this! Talk about teacher's pets. I'd like to see anyone take my phone." she said marching off.

"It was a close call before…I can't believe the Chrysailians would even dare to attack civilians." Hope said.

"Not quite, they didn't seem willing to go through with it. Someone was directing them. Probably someone you haven't encountered before." Sachiko said.

"It's clear that we have to end this before whoever ordered that attack does worse." Hope said. "We have to attack Crysalia and stop them, and we need to do it soon." he said before David karate chopped his head.

"*sigh* This is exactly what I was talking about. If we just rush in, we'll play right into their hands." David said.

"Plus we're talking about a kingdom...that flies in the sky. We have no way of getting up there." Pit said.

"Seriously, Hope. At least have some sense of reason, would you?" David asked. "We'll launch an attack in about a week. That should be enough time to make preparations."

"For now, we'll just continue as usual." Izuku said.

_Back in Chrysalia…_

"My sincerest apologies, Master Orbeetle. My hesitance placed your plan and our kingdom in peril." Scolipede said.

"It's fine. To be honest, I kind of figured that would happen." Orbeetle said. "We may be warriors, but we are not monsters."

"Er… Technically us Pokémon are monsters, but… I get your point." Scolipede said. "So...about the next attack?"

"Hmm. Hold off for a bit...then I predict Leavanny will try and take charge himself." Orbeetle said.

"Hold off. Why?" Scolipede asked.

"There is someone else who will strike. I can sense their ill intent. It's a broken heart that aches from loss and love." Orbeetle said. "Perhaps they will finish them."


	13. The Girl of the Dreams

In Jeremie's room where he is trying to come up with another materialization program. But as soon as he launched it, it then failed.

"Ugh… I don't believe it. Not again! I'm completely useless. I'll never figure this out." Jeremie groaned.

"Say, do you think we'll be friends when I make it to Earth?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Jeremie asked.

"Because I wouldn't want a friend who was worthless." Aelita said.

"Ha ha. Very funny." Jeremie said as Odd opened the door.

"Jeremie. You better hurry up or else you'll be late for class again." Odd said.

"Is it that late already? Just let me try one more thing and I'll be right there." Jeremie said.

"I know where this is going." Odd said as he left.

Meanwhile in the Mountain sector of Lyoko, Aelita was meditating when she was attacked by something. It was also later in the morning that Ulrich noticed Yumi heading to class pushing something large towards it.

"So, mind telling me what this is for, Yumi?" David asked.

"It's something that's been in my family for generations." Yumi said.

"I think I have something like this too, but...it's kind of embarrassing to take out." David said.

"Cmon David, from one fellow Japanese to another, we should be proud of our history." Yumi said.

"I know, but my family is branched off from the Minamoto clan. The armor I have isn't even mine." David said.

"Well, least you don't have to drag it to school for the end of your report." Yumi said.

"I'd bet. Neither of them would go with the drapes." Ulrich said.

"Ulrich, you never cease to have any witty repartee." Yumi smiled as the three walked away from the class, unaware of a two of reporters sneaking right on in.

"Attention all students. This is Milly and Tamiya of the 7th grade bringing you a special expose. You may not know it, but just behind my back, something is hatching and this my friends is a part of it. Now we will reveal to you what is hidden under this drape." Milly said. Just as Milly pulled back the drapes, Tamiya then dropped the camera. "Tamiya, is there any reason to be filming your feet?"

"I'm sorry. Its just that it scares me a little." Tamiya said looking at the samurai armor that was under the drapes.

The bell then rang.

"Oh no, time for class already?!" Milly asked as the two hurried to class, Milly unaware that she didn't close the armor's doors all the way. Just then, a black smoke flowed towards the samurai armor.

_Meanwhile…_

"Any reason you look so tired?" Mahiru asked.

"I've been working on Aelita's materialization program. With my last program, I almost succeeded." Jeremie said.

"You shouldn't overwork yourself, Jeremie. I understand Aelita is important to you, but you have to make sure you balance school life too." Mahiru said.

"How can he do that when he's clearly crushing on her? I mean, he's practically obsessed." Hiyoko piped in.

"Shut it." Usopp said. "Look, you gotta get your mind off her."

"Now before we begin class today, I'd like to introduce a new student." Delmas said. "Come on in, Taelia."

"Now just picture her, standing right before you." Odd said.

"I...don't believe it." Jeremie said as they saw a girl walk in bearing a striking resemblance to Aelita.

"That's not her." Hope said quietly so Jeremie wouldn't hear to the others.

"I think that's obvious." David said.

"Yeah, we already know it's not her. Besides, her hair is all wrong." Rarity said.

"Yeah. It's red, not pink." Mayumi said.

"Of course the only one who would believe she's Aelita is…" Kaede said looking to Jeremie.

"Should...should we do something?" Hope asked.

"No. Don't do a thing. As long as we don't mess with him, he'll eventually realize she's not her." Lemon said.

"But what if he doesn't?" Gemini asked.

"Relax. The moment he starts mentioning virtual realities and monsters, she'll keep her distance." Lemon said.

It was later in the quad that they saw Taelia on the bench reading.

"There's another sign. If she really is Aelita, she would've recognized us." David said.

"Exactly, though he'd probably attribute it to memory loss." Iida said.

"I say we head to the factory and see what's going on. Something might've happened to Aelita." Miu said.

"That's a good idea. It would be best to just check on her anyway." Pit said.

In History Class, Yumi laid out several items from Japan.

"Though this is just a glimpse of my country's culture, telling you every aspect would take a long time and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to listen to me for that long. Now to wrap up my presentation, is a living symbol of Japan." she said opening the cabinet only to see the curtain. She was surprised before looking at an outlet. "XANA."

Little does anyone know, the suit of armor started walking on its own. It was soon encountered by some of the school staff as it drew its sword and was attacking across the school without discrimination for friend or foe.

_In the lunch room…_

"Do you think someone might have stolen it?" David asked.

"No. I think XANA had something to do with this." Yumi said.

"That settles it then. We're going to Lyoko." Miu said.

"Attention students. Recently, some of our students and our beloved Jim, Vector and Franky were attacked. The attacker was described as someone who wore samurai armor. Any important information should go to the police immediately." Delmas said.

"And it doesn't seem like we're going to have room to wait either." Asta said.

"We need to go, now. Aelita could be in danger." David said. "But…I can't just leave that armor unchecked."

"Don't worry about it. Delmas and the police are probably gonna question me since the armor is mine. So you all can go ahead." Yumi said.

"Gotcha. Thanks, Yumi." Genis said.

"We can't rely on Jeremie for this one since he's still in lovey-dovey mode with Taelia. Miu, we'll be counting on you to help us out." David said.

"Gotcha. Leave it to me." Miu said.

"I'm still worried about Raine. I hope she'll be okay with that armor on the loose." Genis said.

"Her name wasn't called, so chances are it hasn't gotten to her yet. But even if it does, we still have other staff and those outside on hand to hold it down." Francisca said.

"Yeah...and Jexi has things handled on the bug side. So all we gotta do is find and save Aelita." Pit said.

"So, we better get moving." David said.

They quickly arrived at the factory.

"Okay...I'll send in teams of three. Odd, Ulrich and Pit. Dan, Luffy and Ranma. Then Hope, David and Mark. And...we're good to go." Miu said as she quickly sent them into the mountain sector three at a time. "Hmm...looking good so far. And nothing…" Miu said turning to the elevator to see Jeremie arriving with Taelia. "Ah crap." she groaned.

"Let me guess… Jeremie's here, with Taelia." David said.

"Should have seen that coming." Hope groaned. "I knew he'd do something like this."

"We have no choice. We'll just have to complete this ourselves before Taelia starts asking too many questions." David said.

"Oh...she won't ask questions. She'll probably go to the police after what Jeremie probably explained to her on the way." Mark said. "And only after...that." he said pointing to the real Aelita floating in a sphere.

"A guardian. Like the one that imprisoned Yumi." Ulrich said.

"Well, Aelita is the one in it this time, so it looks like we need to free her somehow." David said.

"I think not." a voice said.

"Who…?" Hope asked.

"Wait...I know that voice." Dan said as a gothic looking Pokémon appeared before them. "Gothitelle!"

"Geez… So we're fighting one of those now. You've got a strange taste in Pokémon, Leia." David said.

"I'll advise you to hold your tongue. But I'm glad you all still remember me. Now move aside so I may terminate the girl. Then I will terminate all of you. To think hiring Flux would lead me here. He hasn't even answered the calls I've been sending him." Gothitelle said.

"Well, there's a good reason for that, but I don't think you're much of a talker, are you?" David asked.

"All I am here for is to avenge my love. My master who's plan you silenced along with him!" Gothitelle said.

"What are you...she's here for revenge for Darkrai." Dan said.

"I'm not even going to ask. But she's not gonna let us go quietly, it seems. Miu, find a way to destroy that guardian. We'll hold her off." David said.

"I'll try and...wait...it's a program. I know what to do." Miu said getting to work.

The others then faced off with Gothitelle.

"They say hell hath no fury like a scorned woman. Guess that's also true for you, Gothitelle." Hope said.

"Shut up! Psybeam!" Gothitelle said firing a beam of psychic energy.

Hope dodged the attack as he pulled back.

David began shooting ice crystals from his guns.

"Listen Gothitelle. There isn't any need for this. If you'll just listen…" Dan said.

"Silence! I will have justice for what you did to my master!" Gothitelle said.

"How can you be sure Darkrai is even dead?" David asked.

"I saw what happened. You all forced him into the Dimensional Hole, and then had Palkia destroy it and my master inside. His vision...no one but me could understand it. And you all...you snuffed him out in his prime!" she shouted as tears streamed down her face.

David moved closer to her, still on his guard. "Listen… I don't know if you'll believe this, but...Darkrai might still be alive."

"Don't you dare try to…" Gothitelle said.

"It's not a trick. And there is no might. Darkrai isn't dead." Dan said.

"I don't know all the details of what happened, but… Darkrai has lost his memory. He's living a peaceful life now." David said.

"I never knew. But Flux told me he perished." Gothitelle said.

"He knew what happened to Darkrai. The Flux of this timeline was manipulating you from day 1." Dan said.

"That's right. Everything he told you is a lie." David said.

"I...I see." Gothitelle said seeing the guardian destroy itself and free Aelita. "Sorry, for the trouble I caused you. Let me teleport you to a tower." she said as her eyes glowed as they suddenly found themselves before a tower.

"Thanks, but what about you?" Hope asked.

"Since I know the truth, he'll likely try to eliminate me. So I'll have to hide somewhere. Best of luck." Gothitelle said as she teleported out.

"I may not have known what exactly happened, but...I kind of feel sorry for her." David said.

"Don't worry too much about her. In the end, she's going to get her happy ending." Dan said.

"Yeah. Just trust us on this. She'll turn out just fine." Pit said. "Now come on. We got a tower to deactivate!"

"That's right. It's in the forest sector. And you guys might want to hurry, Taelia is already at the police station." Miu said.

"Right!" Hope said as they headed to the forest.

"We should be done with time to spare before she gets back." Ranma said. "And what luck? XANA sent us a warm up committee." Ranma said seeing some Bloks appearing before them.

"Bloks. My favorite monsters." Odd said.

"Same here." David said. "Shall we?"

"I don't think we have much choice." Odd said.

"Well then, let's dance." David said.

A hail of arrows and bullets went flying across the forest as they were all fired at the incoming bloks., taking out a large number of them as they quickly reached the tower as Aelita went and deactivated it.

"Whew… Made it." Miu said launching the program. "Return To The Past, now!"

The RTTP was launched with plenty of time to spare, returning to the point of time when Taliea was introduced.

"Wow...can't believe you all thought that was Aelita. I mean, the eyes aren't the same and neither are the nose and hair." Jeremie said.

"He's not serious, is he?" David asked.

"Denial is not a good look on him." Hope sighed.

"Just let it go. I'll be getting back at him later." Pit said.

Later in history class, Yumi continued her report.

"And to end my report, I present to you something that has been in my family for centuries. A symbol of Japan." Yumi said opening the doors to show the samurai armor only with its feet now cuffed.

At the Sunny, Gothitelle was seen.

"Oh wow. I know I already have one, but to see a Gothitelle like this. I'm quite stunned to be honest." Leia said.

"I realize how strange it is but she's useful for us against the kingdoms with her teleportation abilities." Jexi said.

"Especially since the attack is in a few days." Alphamon said.

"Why can't I just teleport us to Chrysalia?" Glimmer said.

"Because Gothitelle's range is as large as a ship. You can only teleport yourself and two people at a time." Jexi said.

"Even if I pull my teleportation abilities with Kirumi, we'd still cover the distance, but we wouldn't be able to hit the altitude to reach them." Marco said.

"In short, it doesn't matter how much their teleportation abilities cover. If we are to reach them, we need Gothitelle." UlforceVeedramon said.

"Oh. I get it." Glimmer said.

_Meanwhile in Chrysalia…_

"Hmm… They resolved the incident quicker than I expected. This Hero Alliance is quite impressive." Orbeetle said. "Guess we should plan the next battalion."

"There is no need. I'll be taking the next battle." Leavanny said. "I'll take my Sewaddle and Swadloon and attack during the night where their vision is weakest."

"Are you certain? You haven't been in battle for a long time now." Orbeetle said.

"While I may have aged, I am still battle worthy." Leavanny said.

"Very well. Go forth." Orbettle said. "Good fortune to you."

"Thank you very much." Leavanny said.


	14. Plagued

We open to the sewers to see several rats trying to climb up a pipe to get a pinecone near a broken grate. As a rat tried to join in, the other rats scared it off, forcing it down further into the sewers. It then crawled up a pipe into a kitchen where it approached a crate of apples. As it got close, it was soon set upon by a black smoke. The smoke then entered the rat's body causing the Xana symbol to appear in its eyes.

That morning, in the library at Kadic Academy…

"I can't talk too loudly, Aelita. I'm in the library." Jeremie whispered.

"What's a library?" Aelita asked.

"It's a databank printed on paper and where you can't make any noise." Jeremie said.

"Because you need all of the silence to study it. Understood." Aelita said.

"And to not miss the match point." Jeremie said looking over to Odd and Ulrich who had made a field out of pencils, books and paper and Ulrich and Odd were on each side. Odd then fired a paper ball and Ulrich hit it back. They continued to hit the ball back and forth til it landed on Odd's side and fell, leaving Ulrich the winner. As he celebrated, Ulrich fell over in his chair. Then Jim walked up to them.

"You call this studying? This isn't some place for playing games." Jim said.

It was at that moment the principal walked in while Jim was talking.

"If that's the way you all want to play it…" Jim said lashing out and accidentally grabbed Delmas's ear. "You! Two hours detention!" he said before seeing who it was. "Oh! Sorry sir. I got caught up in the moment."

Delmas then walked over to Jeremie. "Jeremie, I need to have a word with you." Delmas said.

Meanwhile in the sewers, as the rats feasted on the pine cone seeds, the possessed rat returned and ran up to one of the normal rats and bit it. Soon after it was bitten, it was soon possessed and ran to the other rats proceeding to bite them all. Back at Kadic, Jeremie has just left the principal's office.

"So, what did the principal want to talk to you about?" Genis asked.

"He says that the school psychologist has been observing me from afar and is going to submit me to an IQ test tonight. And if I pass, I'll be considered gifted and then sent over to a private school for the gifted." Jeremie said.

"A-are you serious?" Ventus asked.

"If that's true and you really pass… you won't be able to stay at Kadic and help us with Lyoko." Mahiru said.

"We have Miu, you know. But if he's gone, we can't work more on Aelita's materialization code." Izuku said.

"Can't you just try and fail it?" Natsu asked.

"Those tests are made impossible to fail." Jeremie said.

"But we don't want you to leave." Pit said.

"I know. But he's already talked to my parents. He says a school of that caliber will get me a big scholarship and my parents aren't going to pass that up." Jeremie said.

Meanwhile in the sewers, the first possessed rat squeaked out to its other brethren which were also possessed. The rats reacted by squeaking back. They then swam through the sewers towards the school pipes. Later that evening, we see several Sewaddle and Swadloon jumping from tree to tree towards the academy. Then Leavanny walked to the edge of the forest.

"Excellent work, my children. Now go! Cover this entire building in your silk. Leave them trapped with nowhere to go." Leavanny said.

"Yes, sir!" the Sewaddle and Swadloon acknowledged and went to work.

Back inside Kadic, everyone was getting ready for curfew before Fluttershy suddenly gasped.

"Is everything okay, Fluttershy?" Mahiru asked.

"No… somethings wrong. As if a million poor innocent souls of creatures were crying out in pain." Fluttershy said.

"What? Oh that can't..." Hiyoko said before hearing some hissing. "Gah!" she said jumping as out came a rat.

"Oh relax, ladies. It's just a rat." Kaminari said. "Just a single...harmless…" he said before seeing a number of other rats nearby it. "Wow. That is a lot of rats."

"Wait a moment…" Double D said as he noticed the rats' eyes. "XANA! It's possessing the rats!"

"RUN!" Hiyoko screamed as she took off in fear, the others following.

"How the heck can he control so many rats?" Kaminari shouted.

"Think of it like the bubonic plague. That was caused by a multitude of rats spreading the disease among themselves and the people. The same can be said about this. It's likely XANA possessed one rat and spread it throughout the others hiding in the sewers." Double D said. "It's not an exaggeration to say he has a whole army of them under his command."

"So he's activated a tower. But how are we going to get there? Jeremie is still with the psychiatrist and we can't go through the sewers." Sachiko said.

"Even worse, there's silk all over the school. It's safe to say that Chrysalia's forces aren't too far from us either." David said. "Though I wouldn't worry too much about Chrysalia. I'm sure Jexi has already sent someone to take care of that."

"Yeah...last I remember, Uryuu took care of Leavanny but he's not with us this time so I'm not sure who he'll send." Dan said.

"We should split into two groups. One group goes to Lyoko, the other meets up with them to hold off Chrysalia." David said.

"Wait...I just remembered something." Double D said getting out a flashlight and flashing it at the rats, stunning them. "Since rats are adept to darkness, they scatter when exposed to light."

"Nice work, Double D! This should help a lot." David said. "Nora, we need another light source."

"I'm on it." Leonora said holding a ball of light. The rats quickly catching sight of it quickly scattered away from it. "Let's get moving. We don't have time to waste."

"She's right. Let's move." Mayumi said.

The two groups then split up. The reinforcement group headed out to help with Leavanny.

"Ah...I knew it was only a matter of time before one of you caught on." Leavanny said.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? You're not just trapping us, but also many students who have no part in this." Mahiru said.

"So what? You are the main objective." Leavanny said. "The students will be fine inside of their dorms."

"Not really, thanks to a little rat infestation. Ugh… I didn't want to think about that." Francisca said.

"So what? Who cares about rats other than the ones standing before me?" Leavanny said.

"Do innocent lives really matter that little to you? I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stand here and take this." Ventus said.

"Ven, I understand how you feel, but please, try to calm down." Jesse said.

"How can I? Leavanny cares for no one else but us." Ventus replied.

"Okay...really think you people are making a big deal out of this." Leavanny said.

"You said it yourself. We're all that matters to your little attack. This one's on you." Jesse said. "You should've chosen your words more carefully."

"What he said. And now you're gonna regret it!" Flamberge said drawing her sword and slashing at the silk, burning through it. "Ha...nothing…" she said as Leavanny moved past her before feeling her clothes tighten. "What the?"

"You don't know this but we are excellent tailors. I can easily spot the weak points in your little ensemble and...make adjustments." Leavanny said chuckling. "Though I only did this because...I don't want to deal with someone who sees this as a joke."

"Then try taking us on." Ventus said.

"*sigh* At this point, I can't stop you, Ven. So, I may as well join in too." Jesse said.

"Two on one...hmm. Okay. I can work with this." Leavanny said.

"You guys continue to Lyoko. We'll handle things here." Ventus said.

"All right. Stay safe." Mahiru said as they hurried off.

"Well...this should work just fine." Leavanny said. "Now come meet your doom. It's tailor-made just for you."

"We've heard that so many times, it's honestly a joke by this point." Jesse said. "Come on, Ven. Let's show her our combined power."

"You want it, you've got it." Ventus said. "Let's go! Wingblade!" he said materializing six ethereal blades which looked like two separate wings.

"Air Thrust!" Jesse said as he encases Leavanny in a sphere of wind, slashing her from multiple directions.

"Take this!" Ventus said cutting at Leavanny with the six blades he created, dealing massive damage to Leavanny.

"Wow...I really am getting old. I could withhold those attacks much better in my younger years." Leavanny said swaying a bit.

"That's weird...why didn't she try to block?" Ventus asked.

"Leavanny...wait...was this to…" Jesse realized.

"Let's go! Activate! Swarm!" Leavanny said glowing with a bright green energy.

"So that's it. Swarm is an ability that increases the power of Bug-type moves when in a pinch. She took those attacks so she could use it." Jesse said.

"Yes...it's always a risky strategy since it means I'm close to defeat. But...it's so worth it." Leavanny said moving quickly across the battlefield. "Let's go! X-Scissor!" she said lunging at them only for Ventus to quickly block it. "W-what?"

"Sorry….you may be fast...but I'm that much faster!" Ventus said knocking Leavanny back.

"Whoa. That was amazing, Ven." Jesse said.

"Thanks. Now...it's about time we were done with this bug!" Ventus said.

"Right. Let's do it!" Jesse said.

"Enough! Struggle Bug!" Leavanny said charging at them.

"Dual Combo! Winds...of Virtue!" both shouted as they soon appeared behind Leavanny as an x shaped slash appeared on her before she collapsed.

"Phew… It took us a while, but we pulled that attack off." Jesse said.

"And with that, we effectively took out the second in command of the kingdom of bugs." Ventus said.

"We sure did. Though, the battle has only just begun. It won't be long before we take the fight to them." Jesse said.

Meanwhile at the factory, everyone else had soon arrived as Miu set up virtualizing them.

"Alright. Let's get to that tower and put an end to that infestation." David said.

"Okay. You guys shouldn't be too far from the...wait...I'm seeing something coming your way." Miu said.

"What? Where? Ah!" Flamberge said before she was blasted by a mechanical eagle flying in the air.

"That's right...this was the first time Flux switched to mechanical soldiers to fight us." Pit said.

"Hiding behind his toys even this far? I see Flux hasn't really changed at all since the first time you were here. I feel sorry for having to deal with him as long as you did." David said.

"You call me, Storm Eagle, a toy? I am a warrior sent to destroy you all." the eagle said. "All on behalf of my master and creator!"

"Well, if your creator made more creations for fighting, he wouldn't need so many for hiding." David said. "I feel sorry for you, having to swear fealty to a coward like him."

"Oh you shall pay for that remark. Storm Tornado!" Storm Eagle said sending a powerful wind gust their way.

"You call that wind? Get a load of this!" Hiyoko said pulling out her Law of the Eastern Winds and danced a routine before sending out a powerful gust of wind that cancelled out Storm Eagle's attack. "And now I'm gonna send you to the Junkyard! Enjoy the show."

Hiyoko then danced elegantly as cherry blossoms suddenly appeared around her.

"This was over before it even began. Now this eagle's gonna get blown away." Hope said.

"See ya, scrapheap! Dance of the Cherry Blossom Storm!" Hiyoko said sending a giant pink tornado at Storm Eagle mixed with Cherry Blossom petals, hitting him hard.

"Forgive me...master." Storm Eagle said as he exploded leaving behind a mass of parts.

"Too easy." Hiyoko said. "Now, let's get moving, that tower's not gonna deactivate itself." the others then moved out.

"Alright, Aelita. You know what to do." David said.

Aelita went on inside of the tower and quickly deactivated it. The RTTP was activated soon after, sending them back to the moment in the library.

"So, you know how to purposefully fail that test?" David asked.

"Now that I know all the questions, shouldn't be too hard to get the wrong answers. I'll get all my answers from Odd." Jeremie said.

"Oh haha. Laugh it up, but I might end up surprising you." Odd said.

"Hey, quiet!" Jim said.

_Back in Chrysalia…_

"So they beat you?" Pineco asked.

"Yes. They were much more powerful than I anticipated." Leavanny said. "We need to prepare for them."

"It's fine. It's not like they know where we are. And besides...even if they do show up, I know what must be done...a fun forced game of Pokemari!" Pineco said with a carefree attitude.

"With all due respect, my liege, some of the new faces are quite formidable. Especially this one." Orbettle said, showing David's file. "According to records, he has once aspired to be an Olympic athlete. Probably still is now. However, his mind is said to be a very dangerous weapon in and of itself."

"Sounds like the kind of opponent you'd be looking forward to facing, Orbeetle." Pineco said.

"Yes. However, I doubt even my current power on its own can match up to his." Orbeetle said. "So I would like to make a small selfish request. Our entire kingdom is considered a massive powerspot so...I want to make use of the prized wishing star in the treasure vault."

"Orbeetle, surely you're not suggesting…" Leavanny started.

"We of the kingdoms rarely use the phenomenon ourselves considering the strain it puts on the kingdom's natural flow of energy. However, I think it's necessary. I will use...Gigantamax." Orbeetle said.


	15. Battle for Chrysalia

(Cue- Are You Ready?- Dynasty Warriors 5)

"Well today is the big day. After so many battles against them, we're going to finally face off against the bug kingdom on their home turf." Jexi said.

"Yeah, it's time we struck back." Hope said.

"Our main objective is to infiltrate the palace and take down Pineco, the ruler of the kingdom, when he's defeated, the kingdom will go to us and we can send them off." Jexi said.

"Based on reports from Nagi and Veevee, we found out Scolipede will be waiting in there. It seems like he's still bitter about not having a fight with Sachiko earlier." Sectonia said. "Also, it would seem that there are some Pokémon in there that weren't on the official records in our timeline, including Orbeetle."

"Orbeetle...of course these plans would be his." Gothitelle said. "He's one of the wisest Pokémon in all of the kingdoms."

"I don't get it. There wasn't any record of Galar Pokémon the last time you guys were here, right?" Glimmer asked. "Why are they showing up now?"

"Because things aren't the same as they were last time." Jexi said. "It's possible the kingdoms had a bunch of different guys we never met with last time."

"In any case, we will need to plan our formations carefully. David, Orbeetle seems particularly interested in you. Since he's able to Gigantamax, I would recommend taking three more people with you to fight him." Jude said.

"Oh, like a Max Raid Battle, right?" Bow asked.

"I think that's what Jude was getting at, Bow." Adora said.

"I have experience fighting Dynamaxed Pokémon. I will fight with Ishihara." Cheetah said.

"I'll go too. If he really is as wise as he claims, then it will take our combined efforts to bring him down." Leopardmon said.

"That makes three, so who will be the last member?" Cheetah asked.

"Well, Bug types are weak against fire, so how about Himeno goes?" Hope asked.

"You know you could've gone with any Fire-user, right? But sure, I'll go with them." Himeno said.

"And don't worry about Team Lyoko. Robin, Vector and Franky will stay behind to keep a handle on things. As for us...we're going up. Gothitelle…" Jexi said.

"Teleport." Gothitelle said as the ship and its crew teleported and landed right on top of the Bug Kingdom's land.

"So this is Chrysalia." Shoji said.

They looked upon a Japanese style garden with large buildings lining across its edges.

"Huh...we never looked around but it seems pretty tranquil despite it being a kingdom out to conquer the worlds." Sonic said.

"I'll say." Hope said.

"Reminds me of home a little bit." David said.

"We can admire the scenery once we stop these guys." Natsu said. "Come on! I'm all fired up!"

"Then that is where we're headed." Jexi said pointing to the large castle at the end.

"Let's go." Hope said as they advanced.

"Say Jexi, your team met Chrysalia's leader before, right?" Mark said. "What are they like?"

"Let's see...he loves games, plays games and wants others to play them." Dan said.

"Fun-loving guy, got it." David said.

"Yeah...he won't battle but he'll challenge me to a game of Pokemari. So while I deal with him, the rest of the kingdom is all yours." Dan said.

"Roger that." David said.

They all quickly split up all across the kingdom and started battling the armies of the kingdom.

"It seems they've arrived as predicted." Orbeetle said. "My, I knew they might attempt an assault but I never expected they'd go about it like this."

"What do we do?" one soldier asked.

"Hmm...seems Ishihara is bent on finding me. Seal all the doors and direct him towards my sanctum." Orbeetle said.

"Yes sir!" the soldier said.

"He wants to fight me huh? That's fine. I'll give him one he'll never forget." Orbeetle said.

_Meanwhile, with Sachiko's group..._

"From what I heard, Crusadermon. Scolipede is somewhere here. I'm thinking he still wants to fight us properly." Sachiko said. "There's no doubt that he'll have Whirlipede and Venipede with him too. But I've slipped out of Viperia. I'm used to handling Poison-types. Still, I'm glad you decided to come."

"I am as well. I would never even imagine being away from you for so long." Crusadermon replied.

"Y'know Crusadermon, you kinda sound like a parent." ZS joked. "In a good way, I mean."

"Can you blame her? If it weren't Sachiko, Crusadermon would've still been in Theodore's control. Maybe even dead." Genis said.

"I still wonder what would've happened if I was still possessed by Rie." Crusadermon said.

"We would've been forced to kill you. It's...not really a scenario we wanted to happen." Sachiko said. "We changed the fate of you and the other Royal Knights twice already. First Tokyo, then in Ylisse."

"Well you all won't be getting a third fate." a voice shouted as several Venipede and Whirlipede came out of the walls.

"All troops fire!" Scolipede shouted at the end of the hall as they started firing Poison Sting attacks at them.

"Yep. Had a feeling they'd be here." Sachiko said.

"And they decided to try and get us in a closed space to poison us all in one go." ZS said. "That's pretty crafty."

"We need to do something about those Whirlipede and Venipede before we can reach Scolipede." Sachiko said.

"I'm on it! Scarlet Tempest!" Crusadermon said plunging their pile bunker into the ground, creating a wind tornado that picked up the nearby Venipede and Whirlipede.

"Ha! Nice try! I'm way too heavy to be carried by a little wind!" Scolipede said.

"It's not meant for you." Sachiko said.

"Fine. If you want something done right...Rollout!" Scolipede said rolling into a ball and rolling right at them. "I'll flatten you all!"

Sachiko brought out her broadsword in an attempt to block Scolipede. As Scolipede rolled at her, he was surprised to see her easily stop him.

"What? This shouldn't be!" Scolipede said shocked.

"Oh, it be. Prepare yourself!" Sachiko said.

"You wouldn't dare!" Scolipede said shaking.

"My friends, lend me your power!" Sachiko said as a purple aura emerged from her.

"Oh god...this girl...is she even considered a human?!" Scolipede said in fear.

"Here's my strength, Sachiko!" Crusadermon said lending her energy.

"Go! You've got this!" Genis said lending his energy.

"Here we go!" Sachiko said as a sphere emerged above her. When it descends, her broadsword was coated in fire. "Finishing Strike! Hellfire Quake!" she shouted as she brings her sword down, creating a massive shockwave.

"Gah!" Scolipede cried out as he was sent rolling down the other way, crashing through a wall before lying there unconscious.

"Whoa…" ZS breathed. "I have no words other than _that was_ _badass_."

"Yeah...definitely don't wanna mess with her." Genis said.

Meanwhile with David's group, they found themselves directed into a large massive space with all the walls lined with books.

"Hmm… Looks like Orbeetle is quite the studious type. Just look at how far back some of these books are." David said.

"Yes...I do have quite the collection." Orbeetle said descending from above.

"So, you finally show yourself." Himeno said.

"So, this is Orbeetle. He's quite as we remembered back in Galar." Leopardmon said.

"Ah...so you've been to the land of my origin. That's good to know. Then you must know about a certain phenomenon that is popular there." Orbeetle said.

"Dynamaxing? Yeah, we have. Some of us even used it ourselves." David said.

"Ah...so you do know. See, this area isn't large for no reason...it's so I can utilize my full power." Orbeetle said.

"I have a feeling I know where this is going. We know you're capable of Gigantamaxing." David said.

"Then I'll spare you further prattle!" Orbeetle said before being bathed in a bright red energy before growing larger until its head seemed to emit a light from it like a UFO would.

"Whoa. So this is what Orbeetle's Gigantamax form looks like." Leopardmon said.

"Prepare yourselves… for not only has my body increased in size, but so has my mind! If I wanted to, I could control the minds of every single person in this very castle." Orbeetle said. "But...where's the fun in that?"

"Good, because I've been getting flashbacks of that. That's something I prefer not to go through again." Leopardmon said.

"Then let's begin! Max Mindstorm!" Orbeetle said unleashing a powerful psychic blast at them. They quickly avoided the blast as it carved out a massive indent into the ground.

"Whew… That was close. Everyone, be on guard. We're in for our toughest fight yet." David said.

"Don't think you're safe yet." Orbeetle said as a Psychic Terrain suddenly invoked.

"Psychic Terrain. All Psychic attacks are stronger now." David said.

"Yes. Such as this one. G-MAX...GRAVITAS!" Orbeetle shouted as the gravity increased inside of the room.

"He...can control gravity!?" Cheetah said.

"Yes. It is the height of my abilities! I've focused my mind for years, increasing my knowledge and my psychic abilities to this point! Maybe now...I'll finally be able to outsmart him!" Orbeetle said. "This is your end!"

"Not yet. We've got a few tricks of our own." David said. "Transform!" he said invoking Sapphire God: Armament.

"Yes. I had forgotten about that pesky armament of yours. Doesn't even look like the change in gravity is even affecting you as much as it did." Orbeetle said.

"This form is what happens when I push the limits of my Sapphire God form and my Ice Reaper Claw at the same time." David said.

"Impressive! However...don't think that form will allow you the victory! Max Mindstorm!" Orbeetle said firing a psychic blast at David.

"Here I come!" David said firing a blast of ice from his clawed hand.

"A valiant effort! But that won't...wait...the other three...where are they?" Orbeetle said looking around for the rest of David's party. "They couldn't have...wait...there is one spot they could strike from…" he realized as they had gathered under his head.

"That's right. From below." Leopardmon said.

"Drat. This was a diversionary tactic. He never intended to fell me alone. He was buying time for his allies." Orbeetle realized.

"That's right. You were so focused on him that you never paid attention to the rest of us." Cheetah said.

"Sorry Orbeetle...but our friends should be finished with your king by now so...we'll take you down so you can't call for reinforcements." Himeno said.

"Heh….so...in the end...I'm outsmarted not once but twice in my life." Orbeetle said.

"Everyone ready? Time for a combined strike!" David said.

"We're ready!" Leopardmon said as he jumped up with Himeno and Cheetah.

David formed platforms as he took to the air to join them.

"I guess...I'm still not good enough." Orbeetle said as all four of them struck him before an explosion of energy came from him as he collapsed to the ground.

David started to breathe heavily as he reverted. "That took some doing. I never imagined that a Gigantamaxed Pokémon would be so strong firsthand."

"Hehehe...yes...the power of Dynamax and Gigantamax...they aren't mere toys to be taken lightly." Orbeetle said weakly laughing. "Not even the rulers of the kingdoms have mastered its powers."

"I guess some wonders never cease to amaze." David said.

"It seems all I predicted came true. My loss signifies the kingdom has lost. Pineco has likely lost by now. Seems I was brought out of my studying too soon. Now I know...I'm still nowhere near their level." Orbeetle said.

"You mean the strategists talked about in legend, right? Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, Mitsunari Ishida… We fought alongside those figures several times. They serve as the pinnacle of strategy." David said.

"Yes. I saw that you enjoy Sengoku and Three Kingdoms histories quite a bit. However, the one I was referring to is not a strategist. In fact, they would put those three you mentioned to shame." Orbeetle said.

"I'm pretty sure they would've. But all the same, I thank you for the match. We have learned quite a lot." David said.

"Heh...my pleasure. Maybe one day...you and them...will be able to meet for real." Orbeetle said. "I met them once...and ended up humiliated in a battle of wits."

"Who are you talking about?" Himeno asked.

"They say I'm the wisest Pokémon in all the kingdoms...perhaps even the universes. However, that's a lie. There's one whose intellect surpasses all others." Orbeetle said.

"There is? Who is it?" Leopardmon asked.

"He is a powerful Pokémon. One worthy of the title king. He disappeared into legend many years ago. Caly...rex." Orbeetle said before passing out.

"Calyrex? Hmm… That name is completely new to me. We'll have to look into this once we get back to our timeline." David said.

They soon left the castle as everyone else had gathered at the Sunny.

"There you are. We've been waiting for awhile now." Bow said.

"Apologies for the wait. Orbeetle's Gigantamax form was tougher than we thought." David said.

"Coming from you, that had to be one tough bug." Eddy said. "Either way, we won! Chrysalia will be leaving this world alone!"

"Yep...and we timed it just right too." Jexi said as an RTTP wave hit them, returning them to earlier in the day but with Chrysalia having left the world's orbit.

"Calyrex?" Jexi asked.

"Yeah. Orbeetle mentioned it before he passed out. Said that he's the most intelligent Pokémon of all. He even said that I'm destined to meet him someday."

"Well he didn't say that but he did say we might meet him." Leopardmon said.

"Hmm...well I have seen some mentions of a Pokémon called Calyrex while we were in Galar but they're all just legends and baseless facts." Sci-Twi said.

'Maybe they're not so baseless after all. But we don't know much about it at this point." Cheetah said.

"But...this proves something. Our journey throughout Galar...it hasn't ended yet." Titanica said. "If Calyrex is mentioned in a book from there...then maybe it's someplace we never even heard of there."

"She's right...we may end up having to go back there someday." Starlight said.

"That's a nice thought but...we'll have to deal with our own problems. Like these two who just showed up." Tails said showing two new kingdoms entering the world's orbit.

"More kingdoms? Wait a second… The structures… Those might be...Pugilis and Violight, right?" David asked.

"That's right. The Fighting and Electric kingdoms. They were likely attracted by the commotion the Bug kingdom caused." Jexi said.

"Violight and Pugilis. Guess this fight's only just begun." Hope said.

"Yeah...and we're gonna take them both before our time here is done." Jexi said.


	16. Just in Time

We open to the factory to see Jeremie working on the supercomputer.

"Okay. Scanners are active and localized. Ready, Aelita?" Jeremie asked.

"Ready, Jeremie." Aelita asked.

"Here we go." Jeremie said. The computer then began to run a program as Jeremie headed down to the scanners. As one of the scanners opened, Jeremie was smiling from end to end.

Meanwhile back at school, everyone was taking their sweet time after the offensive against the Bug Kingdom.

"I'll tell you. Our time there was freaky with all those creepy crawlies but it's all over now." Natsu said.

"I'm still thinking about what Orbeetle said. About this Calyrex guy. If he really is as intelligent as Orbeetle claims…" David started.

"I have to admit, I'm curious about what else Galar has to offer too." Hope said. "Both in whoever this Calyrex is and what else we missed while we were there."

"From the research I have so far, Orbeetle's claims may not be that far off. It says that Calyrex is a Legendary Pokemon whose intellect lets them see into the past, present and future." Sci-Twi said.

"Seriously? Oh man. Guess we can't expect to keep any secrets from him. Especially since he's going to know pretty much everything about us." David said.

"As for a location, there's no precise location given sadly. But hopefully we'll find more info about him in the future." Sci-Twi said.

"Yeah, we'll find out more once we get back to our own timeline." Sachiko said.

"Guys! Guess what I've been doing?" Jeremie said arriving.

"Working on Aelita's materialization?" Asta asked.

"How did you know? Anyway, I have something." Jeremie said holding a test tube.

"A hair? Wait… Is that?" Lloyd asked.j

"You got it. Aelita's hair." Jeremie said.

The group then arrived at the factory. They then listened to Jeremie's long explanation about how he managed to materialize a hair by locking onto Aelita's virtual DNA.

"So...did you all understand that?" Jeremie asked.

"Erm… Sort of." Lloyd said.

"No problem. It will be clear when Aelita's here in flesh and blood." Jeremie said.

"Wait, you're going to try now?" Jiro asked.

"Yeah. I don't think you should rush these things. Why not give it a day or two?" David asked.

"Do you wanna keep fighting XANA your whole life? If we materialize Aelita, we can unplug him and lead normal lives." Jeremie said. "Plus, you all will be able to go back to your own timeline."

"He makes a good point. We only stayed up to Aelita's materialization. If she's brought to life here and now, we can leave early and stop Mammon." Pit whispered.

"And...here we go." Jeremie said as he ran the program only to be greeted by an error message onscreen. "But it was so perfect. What could have gone wrong?"

_Later in the cafeteria…_

"I think I should just start over from the beginning." Jeremie said.

"You mean from scratch?" Mayumi asked.

"You can't do that. You're only a hair away." Odd said.

"Speaking of hair, your dog is always shedding so many." Ulrich said.

"It's only a couple of hairs." Odd said.

"A little? We could knit you a second Kiwi with all of that hair." David said.

"Did someone say something about a dog? I just like dogs." Sissi asked having overheard the group.

"Go away, Sissi." Ulrich said.

"You know, if you were to be nicer to me, I might keep quiet about the dog Odd is hiding in his room." Sissi said.

"Look, if you even say one word about Kiwi I'll-" Yumi said gripping her glass before it shattered into shards right in her hand, surprising them as some of them took her to the infirmary.

"It's nothing but a scratch. I'll get you a bandage." the nurse said.

"I still don't know how that happened. I didn't even squeeze that hard." Yumi said.

"Those glasses are pretty fragile. Like cheap plastic." Ulrich said.

The two then blushed when they noticed they were holding hands. Just then, the phone rang and Ulrich answered.

"Hello? Okay, we'll be right there." Ulrich said.

The group then convened in Jeremie's room.

"So I figured out the problem. When I entered the code, I accidently pressed a key I shouldn't have. This caused Aelita's data to be full of bugs. I also damaged her ability to deactivate towers. If she enters the Lyoko code, she'll disappear forever." Jeremie said.

"Is there anyway to reverse it?" Sachiko asked.

"Well, yes I could, but what if XANA attacks while that happens?" Jeremie said.

"Then you'll need to work fast." Pit said.

"But you still have that hair, if anything, right?" Sachiko asked.

"Yeah…" Jeremie said as everyone began to disperse. After most of them had gone, a loud barking was heard.

"If Kiwi keeps barking, Jim's going to find him." Natsu said.

"Yeah, I'll go quiet him." Odd said.

They walked right into Odd and Ulrich's room where Kiwi kept barking.

"Kiwi, keep it down." Odd said.

Strangely, everytime Kiwi barked, the window began to crack and continued till it finally broke.

"Whoa! Odd, you okay?" Izuku asked.

Later, they were cleaning up the glass from the cracked window. Odd was then explaining to Jim how he wasn't there when the window broke. Later in the quad…

"So did they catch Kiwi?" Hiyoko asked.

"No but it was close. He's going to have to stay in Jeremie's room for awhile." Ulrich said.

"What was weird was the window didn't start cracking till Kiwi started barking." Natsu said.

"Yeah...you guys don't think that this could be XANA's doing, do you?" Mark asked.

"Probably." David said.

A little later, Sissi walked through the dorm halls as she heard Kiwi barking again.

"Lousy mutt…" Sissi said, not noticing that everytime Kiwi barked,the ceiling in the hall began to crack and crumble. Later in the quad, after an incident involving her…

"I always said her head was full of plaster." Odd said.

"I'm going to the factory. Between Kiwi and the school falling apart, I can't focus on fixing Aelita." Jeremie said.

"Okay...you guys...XANA has to be behind this. First the glass, then the window, now the ceiling. What's next?" Pit said.

"Probably the whole school. But there's something more to this." Hope said. "When those incidents happened, Kiwi was barking."

"It's probably because he's sensing them. Animals are more sensitive to these things than humans." Kaede said.

"Maybe...but do you really think XANA could cause earthquakes?" Mark asked.

"Seriously? Out of everything else XANA has done, this is what you question?" David asked.

"...Good point." Mark responded. "So, the next question is what XANA's planning with these shakes."

_Meanwhile in the halls…_

"My word!" Delmas said looking at the massively cracked walls.

"Doesn't look like it was caused by dampening. What could it be then?" Jim said.

"This isn't good. This is a load bearing wall. If it cracks anymore then it is now, this whole building could come down." Franky said.

"I know Jeremie isn't going to like this idea, but we need to head to the factory." David said.

"You go. We gotta work on evacuating the school." Franky said.

"Alright. And please...don't any of you die." David said as he left and reached for his comm. "Guys, can you hear me? XANA has launched an attack that's crumbling the school. They sent me to the factory alone. I'm going to need some backup."

"But what about Aelita? She's infected with an error, right?" Omnimon asked.

"We've got a precaution in case we reach the worst-case scenario. Just send some backup, and hurry!" David said.

"Don't fret, David! We shall send our best!" CP assured.

David hung up as he reached the sewers and put on his roller skates as he made his way to the factory. Once there, he reached the elevator and went down to the scanner room.

"We figured out what XANA is up to. He's using soundwaves." Miu said.

"Figures. But it makes sense. With all those dogs barking, it could cause some massive damage. Oh, Jeremie is not gonna be happy that we're doing this." David said.

"Not like we have much choice. This continues, the whole city will end up nothing but rubble." Miu said.

"I'm on my own right now, but backup should arrive soon." David said as he got into one of the scanners.

"Your backup has arrived." Scarlet said arriving with Gray.

"You aren't going in there alone." Gray said.

"Well, let's get to it, guys." David said as Scarlet and Gray went in the scanners.

"Okay. Transfer, David. Transfer, Scarlet. Transfer, Gray. Scanner, David. Scanner, Scarlet. Scanner, Gray. Virtualization!" Miu said sending the three right on into the Forest Sector.

"Okay. Last time they came here...they battled some robot called Spark Mandrill." Gray said.

"Unfortunately, he will not be in today." a voice said as they saw the Cricket standing there.

"Cricket? What are you doing here?" David asked.

"I'm simply carrying out my role." he said. "We are the villains here after all."

"Why though?" Scarlet asked. "This isn't like your group."

"That's right. We're doing this...so we can save one of our own." Cricket said.

"Any of you guys know what he's talking about?" David asked.

"No clue. We never really connected with the guy." Gray said. "Except during the Gods War."

"Fine then...I'll tell you. You are aware of what's happening right now right? With the elves across the universes?" Cricket asked.

"Yes, that's right. Mammon is trying to forcibly control them to wage war on humans. Wait, are you saying…?" David started.

"Not everyone within the Lost Thieves is human. One or two of our members are elves. They were affected by the waves going out. Someone is working hard to free them...but in order to keep this up...we have to become the villains here in place of the old Universal Villains." Cricket said.

"Harumi… There's an elf among her group too. I hope she's alright." David said. "And then there's Sharia back in Tokyo. Man, what a fine mess Mammon cooked up. But one thing is strange. His aide, Moloch, didn't kidnap Genis or Raine before sending us here. Though, I'm not sure why."

"Because he knows leaving two half elves out of this wouldn't change his plans in the slightest." Cricket said. "But still...you have a huge team so...even you would take any step in order to save your comrades."

"Of course I do. It is on my honor that I would not let anything happen to them." David said.

"Then you must know...I will do all I can to fulfill the role we've been given in this redux." Cricket said.

"Then I guess we have no choice but to fight." David said.

"That's right!" Cricket said as he started jumping around from tree to tree. "In this world...we're enemies, not allies!"

"Then I guess there's no use in holding back." Scarlet said as he dashed towards the Lost Thief.

"That's the worst possible mistake you could make!" he said dashing past Scarlet and leaving a large cut in his arms.

"Actually, that's exactly what I was hoping you would do." Scarlet said.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "I've cut into your arms. I know you're a Color Fighter. Most of their techniques revolve around their arms."

"I don't use only Color Fighting." Scarlet said as Cricket felt a sudden jolt at the back of his neck, locking his arms up. "Ki has quite a few uses too."

"Damn it. He must have jabbed me when I ran past." Cricket growled.

"Yep. I just used a small Flash Step to speed myself up just enough to catch you. You were so focused on cutting my arms, you didn't even notice they moved."

"I see. Huh...well then...no choice. I'll have to go wild!" he said as his legs started to pump more and more blood into them.

"Oh boy. Here we go." David said getting his weapons ready.

"Even you all should know...the reason they call me Cricket!" he said before moving across the area even faster than before. "I can control the blood flow to my legs. It doesn't matter if most of me can't move...as long as my legs still work...that's good enough for me!"

"This guy...I almost feel sorry he's about to get a beat down." Gray said, looking to David.

David blinked as he activated Zone Speed. "Keep it steady…" he mutters to himself as he aims above Cricket's left leg as he shoots before he deactivates it.

"Argh! Damn you, Ishihara!" Cricket wailed in pain clutching his leg.

David blows his gun. "Doesn't matter how fast you are. I'm good at shooting moving targets."

"Hmm...in that case...since you'll deactivate the tower...let me give you a little hint as to where the Demon Family will be headed." Cricket said.

"Tell us. Any information would do." David said.

"All of the elves have gone berserk, that much is true. However, one world has remained elf attack free. A world within the Magic Universe." Cricket said.

"...Only place I think of is… Asta's world." David said.

"That's right. The elves from his world have all been exterminated and died out...at least for now." Cricket said.

"But...why there of all places?" David asked.

"I can only give you only bits of info. These two terms. Reincarnation...and the tale of the Elfen Revenge." Cricket said before he was logged out.

"It can't be… N-never mind. We'll think about that later. Let's...let's deactivate the tower." David said.

"I'm already on it." Aelita said as they approached it. "If this is my last time...I had a wonderful time with all of you." she said smiling as she headed inside.

"Don't worry, Aelita. It won't be the last time. We're prepared this time." David said.

"Okay." Aelita said as she went and deactivated the tower which stopped the crumbling and activated the RTTP, bringing the group right back to the factory.

"And...there we go." Miu said. "Aelita should be back soon. I didn't think you would know about her hair having her digital signature."

"Call it intuition." David said.

"Still though...what was that...tale of the Elfen Revenge?" Miu asked.

"I have no idea. That term is completely new to me." David said.

"Not to me." Elementa said entering the room. "I know the legend all too well."

"Well...what is it?" Scarlet asked.

"Legend has it, 500 years ago, there lived a tribe of elves and they were all loved by magic itself. Then one day, the leader of the tribe met two humans, a prince and a princess from a nearby kingdom. They eventually became good friends with the girl becoming the leader's bride. But...the day of their wedding, tragedy broke out. The nobles of the kingdom somehow drained the elves of their magic and slaughtered them all along with the princess. They say the elves' anger and rage brought forth a monstrous demon that threatened to destroy all of the land, until the prince himself took it upon himself to bring it down. He destroyed the demon and protected the land. He became known as the first Magic Emperor." Elementa said.

"Oh my god… How horrifying." Mayumi said.

"Yes. Even though the elves have been long gone, it is said they would return one day along with their leader to wipe out humanity for the tragedy that befell them all." Elementa said.

"But did Mammon and Moloch have to bring in all those with elven blood in this?" Genis asked.

"It's possible they're doing this in order to make the legend come more alive." Elementa said.

"Unbelievable. To go as far as to relive such a tragedy." Raine said.

"Genis, Professor, I'm sorry. This must be hard on both of you." Lloyd said.

"It is but...be it as horrific as it sounds...we're going to put those elves back to rest." Genis said.

"They're suffering from their revenge. And the elves of today...they're going to suffer if we can't save them." Raine said.

"You're right. If there are those we can't, then...we can at least spare them pain." David said.

"You aren't in this alone. We have friends who are elves. We gotta save all of them from this suffering." Jexi said. "Once we're out of here...we're going straight to Asta's world to stop this madness."

"You don't mind this, do you, Asta?" David asked.

"Of course not. But...I won't kill any of these elf guys. Even if they are my enemy. I mean, they're from my world aren't they? We should all just get along and work together." Asta said.

"Then the enemies we face here can be considered training for the coming days." David said. "So, don't slack off on your training, you hear?"

"Like we were even considering it." Jexi smirked as they all cheered.

"Just you wait, demon lord! We're coming for you!" they all shouted.


	17. The Trap

Morning soon came as the group went to their classes to learn. When they reached math class, Jeremie had finished his exam when a thought came to him.

"It's our anniversary." Jeremie realized before he was dismissed.

"Anniversary? Of what?" Mark asked.

"It seems he's talking about it being six months since we've met Aelita." Iida said.

"Six months? It sure didn't feel like it was that long." David said as he finished his test.

"Time does fly. We've been planning something very special for her." Ulrich said.

"We can go over more of it back in the factory." Dan said.

"I can't wait to see how she feels about the surprise." Mahiru said.

The group minus Ulrich then left for the factory while Sissi secretly listened in. Meanwhile, in the factory, a black smoke flowed through the electrical equipment and into the production room. As the smoke flowed, the eye of Xana appeared on the computer screens. Meanwhile the group traveled down through the sewers and into the factory and approached the elevator.

"I wish I could find a present for Aelita." Jeremie said.

"You could program her a virtual birthday cake." Odd said.

Jeremie just rolled his eyes as he pressed a button but the elevator didn't move an inch. "Huh. Must be a blown fuse. Let's check the fuses in the control room." Jeremie said.

Outside of the factory, a strange creature watched the factory as several orb-like creatures rolled beside it. "Go on in." they commanded as they rolled right into the factory.

At the same time, out in the forest, Ulrich and Yumi were talking, not noticing that Sissi was watching.

"So what do you think?" Ulrich asked.

"I think it's a great idea." Yumi said.

"I really wish I knew what he saw in her." Sissi muttered.

The two then walked away and into the sewers with Sissi following up close. Meanwhile, the group headed down to the control room to fix the problem, unaware that the machines in the room were moving on their own or that the orbs were spreading across their factory.

"Shouldn't take too long before they cover the entire factory." the creature said. "We'll blow it sky high to make room for the castle."

"Hm?" David muttered, getting a sense. "Guys, I don't think we're alone."

"No kidding." Rainbow said seeing the orb creatures. "Voltorb and Electrode!"

"Living bombs… We have to knock them out before they explode. And with this factory a labyrinth, dealing with them is going to be difficult." David said. "And no energy-based attacks, if that's what you're thinking, Mark. It'll only set off a chain reaction and blow this whole factory up with all of us in it."

"I hear you. No energy attacks." Mark said as he headed off after the Pokémon.

"I will stay with Jeremie and help check the fuses." Double D said. "Seems my fighting style won't be much help in this battle."

"Don't worry. We can handle a few living balls." Pit said knocking a few Voltorb out the window as they exploded outside.

"I'll say, these guys are gonna go!" Rainbow said as she rapidly kicked a Voltorb out of the factory as they blew up as well.

The group continued to go through the factory and eliminate the Voltorb. Meanwhile, Yumi and Ulrich arrived at the factory outside.

"Odd must already be in the scanners." Ulrich said.

"Along with everyone else." Yumi said as they headed into the elevator. As soon as Ulrich pushed the button, Sissi rushed in before the door closed.

"Well, Well. What a nice little hiding place." Sissi said.

"What're you doing here?" Ulrich asked.

"I should ask you that. I wanna know, are Odd, Jeremie and the others you hang with waiting for you or is this your private Love nest?" Sissi asked.

"This is none of your business." Yumi said.

"Yeah, so why don't you leave?" Ulrich said pressing a button but nothing happened. "What's wrong with this thing?"

The elevator then began to move by itself and went down faster and faster till the cables snapped and the elevator fell with a crash so loud the others in the production room heard it. As they ran to see what the crash was, they saw the conveyor belts hum to life.

"This is a trap!" Odd said.

"Oh crap. I knew something was off about this whole scene." David said.

"Hmm...not exactly how I planned it...but I guess this could work." the creature outside said before breaking in. "So...you all figured out my bomb plot huh?"

"Got that right. Though, this is not exactly a good time." David said.

"Oh...I get it...you're scared right? You should be...because you face one of Violight's ancient terrors!" they said stepping into view to show half their body was bird-like with the lower half almost dragonic.

"What the heck is that?!" Hiyoko asked in shock.

"Bzzt! Dracozolt, the Fossil Pokemon! An Electric and Dragon Type! In ancient times, it was unbeatable thanks to its powerful lower body, but it went extinct anyway after it depleted all its plant-based food sources." Rotomphone said.

"So, you're one of those Mix and Match fossil Pokémon from Galar." David said. "Honestly, as a Dragon-type, I have no reason to be scared of you."

"You mean...you find me pathetic cause of my upper half?!" he said in shock. "Don't bother covering it up. I know I'm an embarrassment." he said sadly.

"Hey, come on. That's...not really what I meant at all. Man, this whole situation with the factory is messing with my head." David said.

"Let me try talking to him. I think I can handle his type." Hope said.

"Um… No." David said.

"The dude has enough self esteem problems without you making it worse." Hiyoko said.

"Look, all I never mean anything like that as a sign of superiority. I'm just trying to be brave because of what's going on here." David said.

"Huh?" Dracozolt said before seeing the chaos. "What the heck? When did all of this happen?!" he said in shock. "It's like the place is alive!"

"Yeah, exactly. XANA started this up not too long ago." David said. "So, unfortunately, this isn't the best time for this. I'd stay behind and face you, but I doubt XANA would give us a proper arena."

"I see. So what you're saying is...you all depend on me." Dracozolt said.

"That's nowhere close to...actually...yes. Only someone as great and powerful as you can handle these things." Pit said.

"All right! I'm on it! Bolt Beak!" Dracozolt said striking one machine with his electrified beak, damaging it.

"Strong and not too bright. The perfect combo." Pit said.

"Thanks for covering for me, Pit." David said. "The elevator is busted, so we need to find another way to the lab."

"There's another hatch here. It leads to the computer and the scanners." Miles said.

"A hatch? It doesn't look like we'll all be able to fit in it, though." Ross said.

"We won't. Only a few of us would be able to get down there." Pit said. "Me, Iida and Odd should be able to handle this."

"Understood. Be careful out there." David said. "And Dracozolt… If we make it out of this, let's have a proper match in Violight."

"Hmm...okay." Dracozolt said.

"He just agreed? He's not even gonna...know what? Not even gonna jinx it this time." Hope said.

"Smart choice." Hiyoko said.

Meanwhile, after having arrived on Lyoko, Pit, Odd and Iida were quick to get Aelita through the sector unharmed.

"We gotta keep doing this speedrun style. We got rid of most of the Voltorb and Electrode…" Pit said firing an arrow that pierced a nearby Crab. "But we have no idea how many were actually inside."

"Luckily, the tower isn't too far away. Wait...what the heck is that?" Odd said as they saw an armadillo like robot there.

"Oh...Brook told me about this. Iida...if you would?" Pit said.

"Hahaha. Come and face me, Armored…" the robot said before Iida grabbed him at high speed before pushing him off the edge of the land. "Armadillo!" he cried before falling into the Digital Sea.

"Wow...that was quick." Odd said as they got Aelita into the tower as she deactivated it and the RTTP activated, sending them back to earlier in the day.

We reopen to Jeremie's room where we see the whole group on both ends of the computer together.

"What...is all this?" Aelita asked.

"Happy Anniversary, Aelita!" they all said.

"It's something from our world. It's been over six months since we met you." Jeremie said.

"Sanji and Kirumi made the cake themselves." Shuichi said.

"Thank you, everyone. Is there something I'm supposed to do now?" Aelita asked.

"Yes but...we can handle that for you." Mahiru said as they blew out the candles.

They spent the rest of that day in celebration for their dear friend.


	18. Laughing Fit

We open to science class where we see Mrs. Hertz laughing and the rest of the class staring at her.

"I've never seen her laugh so much." Ulrich said.

"I've never seen her laugh at all." Tsuyu said.

"The gas I've just inhaled in a small quantity is called N2o or those of you interested in chemistry know it better as laughing gas. You can see how this gas is used to relax patients in hospitals to prep for surgery." she said.

"What a bad idea. Nothing like a laughing attack after an appendix attack." Odd quipped.

"Let's just try and stay serious because taking it in large doses, it can be highly toxic causing fatal attacks on the nervous system. Only one thing can stop it: water. Water neutralizes the gas right in its tracks." she said as she drank a glass of water from the sink. "Now please get out a piece of paper for a surprise test."

After class, the group gathered on the quad and noticed Yumi was ignoring them.

"Okay, this is the third day she's gone and ignored us. What gives?" Eijiro said.

"Cut her some slack. Her parents are going through some...problems right now." Indigo said.

"Really? Wow...that has to be rough." Asta said.

"It's pretty rough for anyone to be in the middle of a fight between their parents." Hope said. "I feel sorry for Yumi and what she's going through."

"Yeah, lemme see if I can talk to her." Ulrich said going to Yumi.

"You think Ulrich can get Yumi to smile?" Jeremie asked.

"About as much of a chance as Luffy being able to swim, which is never." Genis said.

"Hey, Yumi." Ulrich said.

"Leave me alone. I don't feel like talking." Yumi said.

"But I feel like talking." Ulrich said.

"Then talk to yourself." Yumi said as she left without saying another word.

"Come on, Ulrich. There are better girls than Yumi." Sissi said arriving as Ulrich started to leave. "Wait! Are you coming to rehearsals tomorrow?"

"I'm going for Odd, not you." Ulrich said.

"Don't forget it was me who got Odd to play the music. I think you would be perfect to play Romeo." Sissi said.

"And let me guess, you're Juliet?" Ulrich said.

"What do you think?" Sissi asked.

"I'll think about it." Ulrich said as he left.

Meanwhile in the science building, a large cloud of black smoke appeared and flowed to the laughing gas. It entered the containers and flowed out a large purple cloud with a smiling face. Meanwhile just a bit outside the city at night, a new creature was looking over the city.

"So this place is where Dracozolt got tricked by some humans? Heh. I'll show them what happens when you mess with our little family." they said laughing as they headed into the city.

_Later…_

Ulrich went to Yumi's house and knocked on the door. After he knocked, Mrs. Ishiyama arrived at the door.

"Hello?" she asked.

"I wanted to talk to Yumi." Ulrich said.

_Later in Yumi's Room…_

"So, where's your dad?" Ulrich asked.

"Staying with a friend from work." Yumi said.

"So what was that fight about?" Ulrich asked.

"I don't really know. My mom tried to explain it to me, but I don't think she knew why either." Yumi said.

"Those kinds of arguments are the worst." Ulrich said.

"I'm really glad you came. Thanks Ulrich, for cheering me up." Yumi said.

She then gave Ulrich a rose before sending him off as he smiled.

_Back at the Sunny…_

"One of those cases, huh? Well, that figures." Captain Cold said.

"Was it the same for you and Barbara back in Paris?" Cia asked.

"Actually, it goes a little further than that. You see, sometimes, when emotions overflow, they tend to come out in different ways." David said.

"It's a wonder that we never fight like that. Well, almost never." Hagakure mentioned.

"Yeah...things have been a bit more tame for awhile now." Jexi said.

"There's no telling when XANA is going to launch an attack." Zelos said.

"Speaking of which, I'm thinking we should go for Violight first." Himeno said.

"Violight, huh? I promised Dracozolt we'd have a fair fight there." David said.

"Jexi, you went for Violight first when you went through this, right?" Fulgore asked.

"Yeah but that was cause they had a captive last time. Things are different this time around. Though...we should keep the idea of attacking them open in mind." Jexi said.

"In the meantime, David, I would suggest going back to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow, after all." Fulgore said.

"It's kind of hard to, Odd and the others are rehearsing for the big play." David said.

"Hey, we can wake you up if you're worried about missing the show. Just get all rested up, dude." ZS assured.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Thanks for the gesture, though." David said as he hung up.

The next morning in the auditorium the cast began to practice for the big night. As Odd began to play his guitar and the cast was rehearsing, the purple smoke then entered Odd and he began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Oh come on. It wasn't that bad." Herb said.

"Odd! I'll show him a thing or two." Sissi said. Sissi then grabbed a water bottle and poured it on Odd and the smoke left him and entered the air vents. "And don't bother showing up. This is a tragedy, not a comedy!" Sissi said as she left.

"Hey, wait!" Odd shouted.

"Hehehe." Miles said laughing a little before Mina dumped water on him. "What the heck? I just found the last part of what she said amusing."

"Yeah. It was pretty good. But Odd never laughs like that...especially during a drama like this." Mina said.

"Unless...he inhaled nitrous oxide." Miles said. "We might need to bring this up with the others."

_It was later in Jeremie's room…_

"And when Sissi dumped water on me, I felt okay and stopped laughing." Odd said.

"It sounds like symptoms of intaking nitrous oxide. It could be a XANA attack." Jeremie said.

"No doubt about it." Genis said.

"Let's make sure." Raine said.

They went into the science room and began to inspect the cannisters.

"Just as we thought. All of these are empty." Miles said.

"But...it's just laughing gas right? Not like it can cause real harm." Rainbow said.

"Maybe in small doses, but too much causes damage to the nerves and could cause the subject to die of oxygen deprivation." Miles said. "And since he's possessed several canisters worth, he's literally a cloud of laughing death."

"That doesn't sound very good." Genis said.

"Don't worry. We'll head to the factory and deactivate the tower. And with enough time to catch Romeo and Juliet." Mina said.

"We'd best get moving, then." Raine said.

"Yeah. If Violight makes a move, I'm sure the others can handle it." Genis said.

They hurried off to the factory before seeing a thick layer of ice covering the bridge.

"What the? Did someone ice the bridge?" Rainbow said.

"Damn right someone did." a voice said as stepping out was a creature with a bird like head and arms and a dino like lower body.

"It's like that Dracozolt from earlier, but this one is different." Genis said.

"Bzzt! Arctozolt, the Fossil Pokemon! An Electric and Ice Type! This Pokémon lived on prehistoric seashores and was able to preserve food with the ice on its body. It went extinct because it moved so slowly." Rotomphone said.

"Okay, kids. I promise this won't take long. I'm just looking for the idiot who went and messed with my brother, Dracozolt's, head." Arctozolt said.

"You mean David, right? First of all, he didn't mess with his head at all." Genis said. "He only challenged him to a fair fight with no distractions."

"Yeah...that's not gonna happen. Look, my brother has a lot of issues with his body and doesn't need to be fighting or getting into fights. So I came looking for you so you'd call it off." Arctozolt said.

"That's not for you to decide. Besides, Dracozolt has already agreed to it." Raine said.

"Please, he'll just forget about it by tomorrow anyway. Just call it off." Arctozolt said.

"She just said it's not for you to decide." Genis said.

"Okay...fine. New plan." Arctozolt said freezing the surrounding area to make a sort of arena. "Instead of facing him...you'll be fighting me instead."

"Are you sure? I mean...you look a little slow getting around." Rainbow said.

"Definitely sure. I win, you call it off. You win, I'll drop the subject." Arctozolt said.

"Geez, overbearing much? Fine, we accept your terms." Genis said.

"Perfect. So...let's go! Bolt Beak!" he said, sliding at them with an electrified beak.

"Fire Ball!" Genis said shooting fireballs at Arctozolt.

"Gah! Oh now you're really gonna get it! Blizzard!" Arctozolt said unleashing a blizzard at them.

"Stone Blast!" Genis said as rocks started to strike Arctozolt from underneath.

"Okay...another lucky hit but I can take it. Have this! Ancient Power!" Arctozolt said weakly firing several large rocks.

"You sure you can handle this? You're starting to lose a lot of energy." Genis asked.

"No...I can...I can…" Arctozolt said falling to the ground. "Would you be cool with...calling it a tie?"

"I'm afraid that's not how these things work. Now, if you'll excuse us." Genis said.

"Damn…" Arctozolt said before collapsing.

The group soon reached the factory.

"We need to hurry. The show is going to start soon, and so will XANA's strike." Raine said.

"Okay. Odd, Genis, Raine. This one is all for you." Jeremie said. "Here goes. Transer, Odd. Transfer, Genis. Transfer, Raine. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Genis. Scanner, Raine. Virtualization!" Jeremie said sending the three inside.

"So, this is what it's like inside a virtual world. Truly fascinating." Raine said.

"Yeah, you get used to it." Odd said. "Now come on. Aelita's waiting and the tower shouldn't be too….far...away?" he said as they found themselves standing outside a large labyrinth surrounding the tower.

"It's like a maze. We just need to find the right path to the tower." Genis said.

"Yeah. Or...Jeremie...mind finding us a path? Jeremie?" Odd asked only to be met with silence.

"No response. You don't think the gas has already gone through, have you?" Genis asked.

"But there's no way for it to...the ventilation shafts!" Raine realized. "No...we can't worry about that. As long as they get to a source of water, they should be fine."

"But if he leaves the supercomputer, then there will be no one to launch the return to the past when we finish." Genis said. "N-never mind, we'll figure something out once we're done."

"For now...let's try and get through." Odd said as they hurried on inside and started to puzzle their way through the labyrinth bit by bit.

"Odd...are you feeling okay?" Genis asked.

"Yeah...yeah. I'm fine." Odd said feeling a little woozy. "Okay...maybe not. Something must not have gone right with my transfer."

"Oh no… Some of the gas must've leaked in. We need to finish this fast." Genis said.

"No...you two...need to get Aelita to the tower. I'll just slow you down." Odd said.

"Odd, you shouldn't say stuff like that." Genis said.

"It's true. I can feel myself getting weaker. But it's okay...I had a vision. I saw the route to the tower." Odd said.

"You have?" Genis asked.

"Yeah. Take the next left and then go right three times and you'll be there. Also...Genis...you're gonna have to take out Raine once Aelita goes inside." Odd said.

"Right… Someone has to launch the Return to the Past." Raine said.

"Just make sure not to breathe in the gas on the way there." Genis said.

"I won't." Raine said as they hurried off with Aelita while leaving Odd behind.

They soon reached the tower as Aelita went in.

"Ready, Sis? Here we go… Wind Blade!" Genis said as he sliced Raine with a blade of wind, devirtualizing her. Once she got out of the scanner, she covered her nose and mouth so she wouldn't breathe in the gas on the way to the supercomputer.

"Okay. I've seen Miu and Jeremie do this plenty of times." she thought as she entered the sequence. "Okay. Return to the Past, now." she thought as a flash of light spread. Once it subsided, they were watching the play as it unfolded before them. Ulrich had just finished his part and went behind a fake bush. But as he did, the group behind the curtain pulled up the bush revealing Ulrich and Yumi together causing the audience to laugh, including Yumi's parents.

"Well...looks like everyone gets their happy ending." Usopp said.

"Yep. I'm just glad things are better between Yumi's family now." David said.

"Yeah...they're one big happy family again." Hope said.


	19. Claustrophobia

We open into Jeremie's room…

"Aelita, are you there?" Jeremie asked.

"I'm here Jeremie. All alone today?" Aelita asked.

"Everyone's outside playing soccer. I was feeling kinda tired so I didn't wanna play." Jeremie said.

"What's...tired mean?" Aelita asked.

"It's when you run out of energy like old batteries." Jeremie said.

"Is resting something you like doing?" Aelita asked.

"Not really. But it's been better since I met you." Jeremie said.

"And I liked it when I met all of you." Aelita said.

Meanwhile on the field, the heroes were playing an exciting game of soccer against Sissi's little group. They continued to play it and eventually triumphed with the help of Ulrich.

"I think that's enough for today. I'm gonna head home." Yumi said heading off.

"Later!" most of the group said.

"Wow, you were great out there Ulrich!" Frisk said.

"Yeah, you killed it today." Mark agreed.

"Thanks. You guys were pretty good too." Ulrich said.

"Although Sissi doesn't seem to be taking losing well." David said.

"No one really does take losing well...though I wouldn't know." a voice said.

"Wait...I know that voice." Jesse said as they turned to see Lan standing there with two other guys.

"It's been awhile...heroes of the gods war." Lan said.

"Lan? I'm guessing the Lost Thieves enrolled you into this school too?" Sachiko asked.

"Correct! Starting today, me and my buddies will be attending as new students of Kadic Academy." Lan said.

"It's nice to meet you two." Hope courtisied to the two others. "Who might you two be?" he said before one of them got up close to his face.

"Do you intend to cause trouble for us right now?" they asked.

"Don't mind him. He's always asking others for names." David said before whispering to Hope. "Though sometimes, I wish you'd learn when to keep your mouth shut."

"I asked a question...do you intend to cause trouble for us? And answer truthfully." they said.

"None at all. What reason would we have to?" David asked.

"Hmm...Seems you tell the truth...but I asked him." he said pointing to Hope.

Hope cleared his throat. "I wasn't aiming to start any trouble with you. I was just introducing myself and being polite. I apologize for the confusion."

"Hmm….he is also telling the truth. That is good. These two will live for another truthful day." they said wandering off.

"He seems...quite the jolly fellow." David said.

"Don't mind him. All he's interested in is the truth and nothing else." the other guy said.

"If that's the case, why do I feel like I dodged a major bullet? It almost felt like if I lied, he was gonna kill me." Hope said.

"Oh...that's cause he would have." he said. "He doesn't care about things like covers or identities...all that matters to him is honesty."

"And who the heck are you supposed to be? An honest keeper?" Gemini said.

"Not quite." he smirked. "Though...that is a nice little hat you got." he said holding Gemini's hat.

"Hey, give that back." she said taking it before seeing an exact copy of it sitting on his head.

"That's fine...I like mine better." he said.

"Whoa…" Ulrich said.

"I see...that's your ability isn't it?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah. The name is Mach Maker. My ability is called Counterfeit. In short, I can create copies of anything I touch as long as I understand them." he said.

"So it was you. You made the duplicates of those Ouroboros Bracelets." Dan said.

"Ah...my proudest work. We've been making a killing selling off those copies with that one you shared with us." Mach said.

"You're talking about Rachel's bracelet. The one imbued with Amaterasu." David said.

"You nailed it." Mach said. "Treasures like that don't come everyday."

"Either way...we'll see you all around." Lan said as they walked off.

"Well, now the Lost Thieves have a way to keep an eye on us." Mark said.

"Oh, what do we have to do to get you to relax for once, Mark? Maybe it won't be so bad." David said.

"David's right. But I'm a little worried about that other guy." Hope said.

"You know that was on you, right?" David asked.

"I know…I gotta remember to keep quiet sometimes." Hope said.

"Okay, shall we continue with the game? But how are we going to be able to compete with losers like you?" Sissi asked tossing the ball aside only for a new kid to catch it.

"You guys need a little help?" the boy asked.

"Who the heck are you?" Pit asked.

"Theo. I'm new around here. I just moved into town. Besides, I think I'm liking this place already." he said. "So...which team am I on?"

"We don't need you." Nicholas said.

"But I thought you were down seven to one. What do you think, Sissi?" Theo asked.

"I don't mind." Sissi said as Theo started playing with them.

"Besides, you look like you can use some extra players anyway." Theo said. He put the ball down and everyone began playing another round.

Later that evening, we see the group sitting down to dinner. Theo then walked in and sat down with Sissi's group, which made Herb extremely jealous.

"You can't sit with our group. Not until you pass our initiation tests, which are extremely dangerous and challenging." Herb said.

"Okay. What kind of tests?" Theo asked.

"You have to...scrub the toilet with a toothbrush." Herb said.

"That's something you give a ten year old at summer camp." Theo said.

'He's right. I make the tests, not you. Theo, you have to mummify the skeleton in the science building." Sissi said.

"That actually sounds cool. I'm in." Theo said.

_Meanwhile in Jeremie's room…_

"Did you manage to gather all the data?" Aelita asked.

"I did. But it won't do any good. Not unless I can pirate the code from the scanner program." Jeremie said.

"But that's almost impossible." Aelita said.

"But I think it can be done." Jeremie said.

_Later that night…_

"Okay...looks like everything is ready to give those guys a little scare." Pit said.

"Oh this is gonna be fun." Hiyoko chuckled. She saw Herb and Nicholas running out of their rooms with rolls of toilet paper.

"This is going to be good." Kaminari said as they headed in only to hear the two screaming as they ran out. "What the?"

"Wow...what a coincidence...we thought of the same idea." Lan said as some fierce looking monsters kept to his side. "Though if we're talking traumatizing fear...I take the cake."

"Dang it." Pit said.

"See you all in the morning." Lan said as he walked off.

"Well….that shut us up." Odd said.

_The next day…_

"Wow…They're taking it harder than I thought." David said.

"It was dark and he had those monsters with him. Can't exactly blame them." Frisk said.

David soon finishes his meal. "Anyway, I gotta get to training. We don't know when we'll expect an attack from XANA or Violight." he said as he takes his leave.

"Especially Violight, since electric attacks are his weakness." Mayumi said.

"You guys know about Violight. What's its hierarchy?" Double D asked.

"Well it's an electric kingdom for sure. Its ruler is Luxio and their top general is Staravia." Pit said.

"Wait, back up. Staravia isn't an electric type, how is he even a top general in a kingdom full of them?" Kazuichi asked.

"Don't think it really matters. Remember, Grovyle, Monferno and Darumaka were top generals and their types didn't match their kingdoms." Izuku said.

"Especially Monferno. He was jumping from kingdom to kingdom, each with a new evolution." Mayumi said. "But Leia was still able to defeat him every time."

"I guess when you consider that, the Kingdoms don't really care much about who resides in them no matter what typing a Pokemon has." Hope said.

"You know you were with us when we faced some of them right? Thought you'd notice." Natsu said.

"Hey, I was still starting out during that time." Hope said.

Just as David was heading out, they all soon noticed the lights above them shorting out very quickly.

"Okay, that's a bit strange." Mahiru said.

"Hmm. Maybe I better go check the circuit breaker. I think it's...huh?" Kazuichi said trying to push the door. "Hey...I...I can't get the door open."

"What? You're kidding." Natsu said pushing. "He's right. It's shut tight. Won't even budge."

"Wait...the lights suddenly shorting out...crap! This is a XANA trap!" Mark said.

"He sure doesn't skip a beat." Kazuichi said.

As David was training, his phone was starting to ring. "Hello?"

"David, we're trapped in the lunchroom." Mark said over the phone. "XANA is behind this. You gotta get to the factory and get help to shut down that tower!"

"Are you guys okay? Don't tell me Jeremie and Miu are trapped in there too." David said.

"Miu's in here but Jeremie left a little earlier. He might already be there with Yumi." Mark said.

"O-okay. I'll call someone from the other side and I'll be on my way." David said.

David hurried towards the factory as Tanjiro waited outside.

"Thanks for receiving my message." David said.

"It's fine. I was more than happy to help." Tanjiro said.

"Now, let's go. Everyone is counting on us." David said.

The three of them hurried into the scanners before being brought into Lyoko. After joining up with Aelita, they hurried to the tower only to narrowly dodge a bolt of electricity.

"Guess I should be expecting this." David said.

They saw the bolt was fired from a humanoid robot with four tesla coils on his back.

"Who are you?" Tanjiro demanded.

"My name is ElecMan...and I'm here to end your little winning streak." he said.

"ElecMan, huh? I somehow think this is all too coincidental. I mean, here we are at war with an electric kingdom, the cafeteria is blocked by an electric field, and now we're standing against an electric enemy." David said.

"A triple current. Not a bad match...for me that is." ElecMan said.

"Hmm… Now that I think about it, this could be the kind of training I was looking for." David said. "I'll deal with him, you guys help Aelita to the tower."

"How noble. I'll make your defeat quick. For you see, the power of electricity is the greatest power. Now let our fight begin. Thunderbolt!" ElecMan said firing a bolt of electricity at him.

David responds to this with a spin kick.

"Ha! You idiot! You think you can kick electricity! You'll get shocked on touch!" ElecMan laughed.

"I know I'm weak to electric attacks. But like I said, this is part of my training for Violight." David said.

"Training? What kind of fool is he?" ElecMan said as David took the attack head on. "Fine! Take this then! Direct Current!" he shouted, firing electricity from his finger.

David took a deep breath and started performing front flips before jumping into the air. His foot is coated with ice as he performs an axe kick.

"No way...he coated his leg in ice to reduce the damage!" ElecMan said in surprise before being kicked across the face.

David coats his hands in ice and performs and X-chop at the tesla coils.

"Hey, I just charged those!" ElecMan shouted. "Electric Boomer!" he shouted firing a ball of electricity at him.

David started gathering energy in his hands before he fired it in a beam of light.

"Light?!" ElecMan said before it pierced the ball and took out one of his tesla coils. "Damn...no wonder the Mavericks couldn't stand a chance against these guys."

"Mavericks? Are you talking about those animal hybrids the others fought?" David asked.

"Yes. It's what we call those models." ElecMan said.

"I see. Well, it doesn't matter who we face, they're going down all the same." David said.

"You have guts, kid. I like that. I'd love to keep fighting you, but I'm afraid I must be on my way." ElecMan said as he turned into electricity and surged off.

"ElecMan… His fighting style was just what I needed to push myself against electric users. Once I fight Dracozolt, and when we defeat Violight... I should thank him properly." David said.

Meanwhile, Aelita had reached the tower and entered it. As then entered the code and deactivated the tower before it collapsed on the students. As soon as the tower was deactivated, the RTTP was then activated and we reopen to the soccer field where the group had pulled off another victory. But when Sissi tossed the ball, it was Yumi who caught it.

"Good game, but I have to head home." Yumi said.

"I'll take you home." Ulrich said before Theo and Mach intercepted.

"We'll gladly take her home. Thanks for the tip, Odd." Mach said.

As the three walked away, Ulrich went and glared at Odd.

"What? It's better than having Theo fall for Sissi. I was helping you out." Odd said.

"You're a dead man, Odd." Ulrich said.

"What did I do?" Odd asked.

_Meanwhile in Violight…_

"Repeat that because I'm not sure I heard you the first time." Luxio said.

"It's just as I said...this guy...he has it out and Dracozolt won't back down." Arctozolt said.

"I don't really get it. Why would anyone want anything with you or Dracozolt...you two are the weakest ones in the army." Staravia said preening his feathers.

"That's not how he sees it, apparently." a Flaaffy said. "I got a good look at his file. He's a master of ice attacks and is weak to electric attacks. He probably did this because he expects a fair fight since their weaknesses counter each other."

"But we all know how it will end. Dracozolt and him fight, he easily triumphs over him and they throw him a big parade." said a lizard like creature with yellow lines of electricity flowing over his body.

"Oh, you don't know that, Toxitricity." Flaaffy said.

"I do. Those two haven't won a single fight since they entered our army." Toxtricity said.

"Oh sure. We know we suck in terms of combat. You don't need to rub it in our faces." Arctozolt said.

"Hmm...actually...maybe Dracozolt should fight him." Staravia said.

"General Staravia, please tell me you're not serious." Arctozolt said.

"Oh I kid you not. But this is only a small part. This may be our chance to take down those rebels in one fell swoop." Staravia said. "We'll send Dracozolt to distract their strongest fighter. Then while he's busy fighting, I'll lead the Emolga squadron and attack them all from the air."

"Oh, I getcha." Toxitricy said. "Nice planning there. But i still think Dracozolts gonna lose again."

"Without a doubt. But at least this way, his biggest loss will turn into our win." Staravia said.

"One problem with that...Dracozolt wants to fight in Violight." Arctozolt said.

"Then I'll order him to move his battle location." Luxio said.

"Are you sure? You know how stubborn he tends to get when it comes to stuff like this." Arctozolt said.

Luxio then pounced onto Arctozolt. "You don't understand. I am this kingdom's ruler. The strongest one here. My orders are absolute. So...he will move the fighting location...or he will leave Violight in disgrace." Luxio said.

"Y-yes, ma'am." Arctozolt said.

"Glad we understand each other. Besides, we can't afford a battle in the kingdom before our big concert." Toxtricity said smiling a bit.

"Concert?" Arctozolt said as Flaaffy whispered something into his ear. "What? You're…"

"It is a last resort we've been saving. If Staravia fails to suppress the enemy...we need a plan B." Luxio said.


	20. Amnesia

"Really? You want me to move my fight to the forest?" Dracozolt asked.

"Oh yes. Luxio has insisted on it. She believes your honor is at stake for not having this fair fight much sooner." Staravia said.

"Really? Wow...I always thought she secretly hated me and Arctozolt." Dracozolt said.

"No. We just show...tough love." Staravia said. "Yeah, let's go with that. Anyway...you must do it not just for us but for all of Violight."

"Okay then…. I'll do it! If it's for the Kingdom itself, then I can't lose!" Dracozolt said.

David was seen training in the field, before spotting them and sighing. "I had to fake a trip to the infirmary to be here, so you guys better have a damn good reason for calling me out."

"Uh...it's something for you. A challenge letter...from Dracozolt." Pit said.

David takes the letter and reads it.

"To the guy whose name I cannot completely remember...Davy I think it was. Anyway...I wanna change the fight date. We'll fight today in the forest at high noon. So...have a nice day. Dracozolt." it read.

"I refuse." David said. "I know that their queen forced him to write this."

"Dave, be considerate about this. If you refuse, there could be dire consequences." Lloyd said.

"He's not wrong. I heard from Spinarak that most who refuse to follow their ruler's orders get exiled." Shun said.

"In that case, I've got a counter-request for their queen." David said. "I'll fight Dracozolt in Violight as promised. And if she has a problem with that...then she can fight me herself."

"Whoa, Dave. Be reasonable about this." Jesse said.

"I am being reasonable. This is more than just a request to fight, it's a promise between warriors. And if Luxio suggests that I play by her rules...then she is no warrior." David said.

As the others went off, Hope stayed behind.

"You know, you're starting to resemble more of a Samurai everyday." Hope said. "Once you accept something, it's hard to change your mind. That's your honor speaking."

"Exactly. And Luxio clearly doesn't understand that if she thinks I'll comply with her demands." David said.

"That's just how dictators like Luxio work. Establish their authority and anyone who says otherwize gets punished." Hope said. "I hate those types of people, and I'm not saying that because of any old reason. There's one person in my line of religious history that makes me feel that way… Adolf Hitler."

"Please don't say that. It was a really bad time in my country's history." David said.

"Sorry… Luxio just reminds me of guys like him." Hope sighed.

"I just can't stand people who think they can just tell others what to do. Free will, honor, choices… None of that matters to those kinds of people." David said. "A samurai is more than just a soldier. He's the embodiment of the loyalty placed by his lord and people."

"The name Samurai translates to 'Those who Serve'. That mantra fits you perfectly." Hope said. "We all have mantras like that. Jexi, Mark, everyone. Me… I dunno what mine is. I don't really know sometimes. Stain said I wasn't a true hero, and I get all kinds of backlash. It feels like I've been deteriorating in these past months."

"It sounds to me like you've been starting to lose your way. In that case, you just need a way to find yourself again. Look for qualities that make you who you truly are." David said.

"Thanks David. I'll give that a try." Hope said. "You're a great guy. I never got to say this before… but I'm really glad we met."

"Yeah, me too. If we hadn't met, I wouldn't have been able to experience all of this. It still feels unreal, to be honest. The worlds that I've been in are nothing like the ones from anime and games at all." David said. "But I guess when you experience them firsthand, you come to learn things from a different perspective."

"Yeah… I felt the same way when I met Jexi and the others back when I first started." Hope said. "Maybe by taking your advice, I can get back to my peak. The one you knew who wasn't this bumbling guy."

"Yes. I'm really hoping I get to see that Hope again." David said.

Hope's comm then rang. "Yeah? Ulrich's what? On our way." Hope hung up. "It's Ulrich. Something's wrong with him. Could be XANA."

"Wait… I remember Mrs. Hertz saying that the lesson I faked the infirmary trip was about nanobots. And if that's the case, then… Oh, this is not good." David said.

"Yeah. Apparently he's hanging with Sissi and he doesn't remember any of us." Hope said. "C'mon, we gotta help the others figure out what's going on."

"I already know. He's stricken with amnesia. Argh! And this is the worst possible time for that too." David said.

"You don't know the half of it." Arctozolt said emerging from the dark. "Man it's bright."

"What do you expect? It's still early morning." David said.

"What are you doing here?" Hope asked.

"Now now, hear me out." Arctozolt said. "I came because...you cannot fight Dracozolt."

"This again? Look…" Hope said.

"It's not that I'm afraid he'll be hurt...it's because I know he will. See...I didn't want him to fight cause...the two of us are the weakest soldiers in the kingdom." Arctozolt said.

"And what exactly makes you think you deserve such a distinction? You don't know that for sure." David said.

"We kinda do. We've lost every single fight we've ever had. We even lost to a Pichu. A PICHU for crying out loud!" Arctozolt said.

"Look, I know you're concerned for him, but this is a promise between warriors. It's not so easily rebuked." David said.

"It's not just that. We know he'll lose. And Staravia is counting on that." Arctozolt said.

"So, he really is planning to launch an attack. I knew something was off about all of this." David said. "Good thing I refused the queen's request when I did."

"It...didn't come from the queen." Arctozolt said. "Dracozolt wrote that of his own free will. He really believes this is for the good of Violight. I tried to talk sense into him but Staravia's words have him thinking otherwise."

"Staravia again, huh? In that case, I have a counter-request." David said. "The fight against Dracozolt in Violight still stands. And if either of them have a problem with it...they can take his place and fight me themselves. This is more than just a request to fight, at least to me. This is a promise between warriors, a sacred vow that can never be broken. And I will not allow anyone to squander it. No one!"

"You don't under...ah!" Arctozolt said before being hit by an Electro Ball from behind.

"Arctozolt!" Hope shouted before they saw dozens of Emolga flying through the air.

"Typical. And here I thought you'd jump at the chance for a fight." Staravia said flying with them.

"So, you're Staravia. I've been hearing a lot of nasty rumors about you lately." David said. "So, you were the one that manipulated Dracozolt and set all of this up, are you?"

"As top general, it's my duty to utilize all soldiers...even the weakest ones." Staravia said.

"Even at the cost of a warrior's honor?" David asked.

"That may matter to Luxio but all I know is I will win this war for my lady and you can't stop that." Staravia said.

"Enough… All your words tell me is that you have no right to call yourself a warrior." David said.

"And FYI...no one would be interested in a bird with plain feathers." Hope said.

"P..p...PLAIN!?" Staravia said in shock. "Okay...fine. Have it your way. Emolga air squadron! We're changing the plan. Before we destroy their base...we'll destroy these three!"

"Wait, three?!" Arctozolt said.

"You just betrayed us. You're a traitor in our eyes. So you'll share their fate!" Staravia said.

"Funny… For quite some time, I stopped believing in fate." David said. "I believe in choices. And you just made yours, Staravia. Prepare yourself as I send a message… By sending you to Violight in an ice box!"

"You can't handle all these guys alone so...I'll keep some of the Emolga off your back." Hope said.

"Thanks, Hope. Arctozolt, stay back and cover us." David said.

"Me? But you know I'm slow, I can't…!" Arctozolt started.

"Listen to me! I don't care about their distinctions and whatnot. They don't decide how strong or weak you and Dracozolt are. YOU do!" David said. "I saw it back at the factory, you know… Dracozolt's potential. The kind of potential that people like Staravia won't let unleash. Do you intend for the both of you to stay in his shadow forever?!"

"I...I...Blizzard!" Arctozolt shouted freezing some of the Emolga.

"Wh-what the?!" Staravia asked in shock.

"I finally realized. You all are flying types...you hate ice, right?" Arctozolt said.

"What? What does that have to do with…" Staravia started.

"Everything." David said. "You used the distinction that they are the weakest to keep them in line, to keep them from unleashing the potential that they want to. Well, here's a lesson for you. No one is truly weak!"

"Why you…I've had enough of your mouth! Die! Aerial Ace!" Staravia said barreling towards him.

"Arctic Style: Ice Fangs!" David said as a panther head formed in David's hand as he lunged towards Staravia.

That one strike ended a one-sided battle as Staravia was still, frozen inside of a large block of ice.

Hope nodded. He then turned to the remaining Emolga. "I suggest you go back to Violight. And tell Luxio this… we're coming for her next."

The Emolga looked at one another before they all fled in terror.

"But… What happens now, Arctozolt? As far as Violight is concerned, you have no place there anymore." David said.

"Won't matter for too long if you guys end up beating Luxio." Arctozolt said.

"In that case… When it's over, why don't you and your brother come with us?" David asked.

"What?! Are...are you serious? Weak Pokémon like us?" Arctozolt said.

"Hey, what do I keep saying? No one is truly weak." David said. "It just means that you both have untapped potential inside you. I think we can help you out in unleashing that potential. Because, well… Truth be told, I was once like you when I started out."

"Wait… You were?" Arctozolt asked.

"Believe it or not, yes. When I suffered a devastating loss to Invel Yura while helping Hope get his family back from Color God Black. I thought I was in over my head, that I didn't deserve to fight alongside such famous figures. But...when I was in Cheetah's dimension fighting Brainiac, it happened." David said. "I felt my second wind as I defeated the maniacal Coluan. That's when I got the message myself. That things may seem at their darkest, but it's not going to stay that way for long."

"Wow. I mean wow I…" Arctozolt breathed.

"Sorry. I know that was a long time ago. At least, for me it was." David said.

"Fine. We'll take the deal. Both me and...oh my gosh!" Arctozolt said.

Dracozolt stood there in the forest as butterflies were landing on him. "He'll be here any minute now." he said.

"You just left him in the woods?!" Hope said.

"I thought the fight would happen no matter what I say." Arctozolt said before a white film was starting to spread.

"Oh...guess we were here longer than we thought." Hope said. "No worries though. We'll definitely win this war." he smirked as the light enveloped them.


	21. Battle for Violight and Killer Music

"Hehehe. Look at all those people down there. It's almost time for the big show." Toxtricity said looking out from the kingdom.

"I know you're excited. But you can't just jump on down there. We need to continue to prep our soldiers before you go down there and…" Luxio said.

"Screw that! I'm ready to rock and roll now!" Toxtricity said.

"So impatient." Luxio said. "Still though…" she said looking at the defrosting Staravia. "To think he did this to Staravia over some fight."

"Eh. Dude's got morals. I can respect that." Toxtricity said.

"Yes...though in the end his little message doesn't worry me in the slightest. They'll have already lost." Luxio said.

_Back below…_

"Okay, today's the day we invade Violight." Jexi said as there was a knock on the Sunny, revealing David at the door.

"Hey… Is it okay if I come with you guys?" David asked. "I was supposed to study for a science exam tomorrow, but Odd's music was driving me and Ulrich crazy. I thought I would come here to find a quiet place to study, but...then I heard you were deploying for Violight."

"Yeah. We'll be heading up soon to take care of Luxio. If she goes down, the kingdom goes right to us." Jexi said.

"Are you certain you wish to do this though? If you come with us, you won't be able to take the exam." Cheetah said.

"Nothing a Return to the Past can't fix. Besides, the others have it covered in case XANA launches an attack." David said.

"That's not the only thing you should be concerned about. You've been a bit of a thorn in Violight's side lately." Zelos said.

"I know. I could be against Dracozolt, Luxio, or for all I know, both of them back-to-back. But that doesn't matter. If Violight has a personal stake against me, that's all the more reason to settle things. This is what I've been training for." David said.

"By the way, just out of curiosity, where exactly is Ulrich in all of this?" Captain Cold asked.

"Jeremie's room. Saw him in there earlier tonight. Especially when Jeremie forgot to cut his connection with me to talk lovey dovey with Aelita." Jexi said. "Anyway, we're going to strike tomorrow at noon."

"Will that be enough time for you to complete your exam?" Fulgore asked.

"Yeah. It's early in the morning, so I think I'll make it if I bust my hump." David said.

As David hurried off to grab his things from his room the next morning, he saw Hope and Dan standing outside Odd's room.

"Odd, come on. Wake up. We got a test today." Dan said.

"What's going on?" David asked before seeing Odd. "Oh my god…"

"He's in bad shape." Hope said. "What happened to him? All he was doing was listening to his music."

"Hmm…" David muttered as he picked up one of Odd's earbuds, before he started having a grating feeling in his head.

"Dave!" Dan said before drawing his sword and piercing the headphones.

"This is real bad. Odd's pulse and heartbeat almost slowed to a halt." Hope said.

"The music… Something about that music… It's making whoever listens to it become comatose. He has to get to the hospital, now!" David said.

"I'll call an ambulance.' Hope said getting his phone out. "Dan, notify Law."

"Already on it." Dan said.

"I'm sorry I can't go with you guys. I have to take the exam and hurry to Sunny before they deploy." David said.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of things here. You and the others go after Violight." Hope said.

"Thanks, Hope. I'm counting on you guys." David said.

The day continued as normal before the clock struck high noon.

"Hehehe. Look at that...about time for the show to hit its apex." Toxtricity said jumping off of Violight just as the Sunny teleported onto Violight.

"We've made it." Jexi said as they looked at the stormy kingdom with pylons lining across the kingdom.

"Geez… Look at the pylons in this place. Electric bills must be huge." David said.

"I see. They harvest the lightning from passing storm clouds to give power to the electric types here." Nami said.

"Luxio should be in this kingdom's power plant." Jexi said. "We should get going before…" he started before they saw a surge of energy come from the land below. "What the?"

"That light...that was a Dynamax!" Cia said.

They hurried to the edge where they saw a large lizard like creature with flowing surges of electricity over its body and two pylons on its lower back.

"Is that...Toxtricity?!" Ichiro said in disbelief.

"This is not good. Odd was comatose because he listened to XANA's music earlier. If this guy is let loose, not just the school will be affected, but everyone within a 200-meter radius!" David said.

"This had to be Luxio's plan. She sent Toxtricity down there to Gigantamax so he could take down the city for her army to invade." Leopardmon said.

"We can't allow him to play that music. We need to send a team down there to keep him occupied." David said.

"Have you forgotten...we only brought those on the Sunny into Violight." Jexi said smiling. "We have a whole troop of students on standby."

"Hey Jexi?" Hope called over the comm. "We've spotted a Toxitricity that's been Gigantamaxed. Want us to handle it?"

"Go right ahead. Take him down before he causes any massive damage." Jexi said.

_Down below…_

"Got it." Hope said logging off. "Time for a Max Raid Battle."

"Rotomphone, is there any info on Toxitricity's Gigantamax form?" Sci-Twi asked.

"Update! It's excessive electric energy is its weapon. This Pokémon can build up more electricity than any thundercloud. Out of control after its own poison penetrated its brain, it tears across the land in a rampage, contaminating the earth with toxic sweat." Rotomphone said.

"In other words, in this state, he's uncontrollable and deadly. We have to stop him here." Hope said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Zephyr asked.

"For me to say…let's go!" Hope called as the Student Team approached the Gigantamaxed Toxitricity. "Hey lizard breath! Someone told me you're not all that shocking and toxic! And newsflash, my friends Low Key Toxitricity is better at music than and Amped up One!"

"Oh...seems we got a couple of hecklers in the audience tonight. Lucky for you...tonight is one night only mates!" Toxtricity said. "A show of excitement!" he said creating a guitar out of electricity.

"Heads up!" Rainbow called.

"Oh, you think you're fast? Try this on for size! MAX Lightning!" he said strumming as lightning struck Rainbow, taking her down.

"Rainbow!" Hope called. "No one does that to my friends!" he glowed with green energy. "Spectral Earth: Seismic Shock!" he slammed his hands to the ground, causing a puslation to rocket towards Toxitricity and then blast up from under him in a blast of an earthquake.

"Whoa...little guy's got guts. But can you all take this? Max Ooze!" Toxtricity said as poison erupted around the city.

"You gotta be kidding me." Eijiro said.

"Oh I haven't even begun to fight. This is the real show stopper! G-MAX Stun Shock!" Toxtricity said swinging his guitar as lighting and poison struck wherever it passed over.

"Watch out!" Mark shouted as he jumped out of the way of a bolt of lightning. "This guy's trying to take ground away from us, cage us in."

"Agh...this is all my fault!" Hope said. "I shouldn't've provoked him! I'm an idiot for doing that! I'm just pathetic…. Stain was right. I'm no…" he said before Hiyoko slapped him.

"Snap out of it already!" she shouted.

"Ow! What the hell, Hiyoko?!" Hope asked.

"I'm not sorry I did that. You've been putting yourself down since all of that stuff. Just shut up and do something if you wanna be useful!" Hiyoko said.

Hope looked up at Hiyoko and turned to everyone. "That's pathetic…" he said standing up among the lighting and poison and walking towards toxitricity.

"Eh?" Toxitricity asked.

"I want to be a true hero…. One who protects everyone. I can't do that if doubt haunts me!" Hope said. "I will be a hero everyone looks up to! I swear!" Hope said. "I'm going… to help my friends defeat you!" he entered Azure God: Burst Mode as all of the lighting was being attracted to him.

"He's attracting all the Lighting?!" Mahiru asked.

"Oh you think you can rock with the best?" Toxtricity said firing lots of electricity at Hope. "Let's see how much you can take, little man!"

"Argh… aaaaagh!" Hope yelled as he was being shocked.

"Okay, now I know he's really gone nuts." Kazuichi said. "What's he trying to prove?!"

"He's lost." Sonia said. "He says he wants to be a hero, but… he doesn't have a reason to fight. He just does."

"Hate to say it, but maybe the reason Stain said that stuff...is because he needs something to fight for." Kazuichi said.

Hope was struggling in the lighting as he was holding on for as long as he could.

"Damn...how is he still standing. This is enough electricity to fry his insides several times over." Toxtricity said.

"(Why am I still going? I don't have any reason to. Why am I fighting, why do I keep doing this?)" Hope thought to himself as he relived his experiences, all that he lived. "(That's right...How could I forget...I'm not doing it for no reason...I have all of them.)"

"Damn little...I'll just smash you into the dirt!" Toxtricity said raising his guitar. "Show's over, little guy!" he said, swinging it down.

Hope's eyes then flashed as he caught it and held it up.

"You're not taking me down… and more importantly… YOU'RE NOT HARMING MY FRIENDS!" Hope said pushing it back up to Toxitricity as he lost his balance.

"What the hell?!" Toxtricity said in surprise.

"You're not going to harm anyone ever again!" Hope shouted lunging at Toxtricity. "This is the end!" he yelled smashing into Toxitricity like a comet of blue light. "Azure Gods….. BLUE NOVA!" he said blasting Toxitricity into the air with a beam projected from his own aura, rocketing him into the sky.

"Hmm...now what was that?" Luxio wondered seeing the explosion in the sky before seeing Toxtricity crash down beside her having shrunken back to normal size. "Impossible...someone actually defeated Toxtricity in Gigantamax Form?! Whoever they are...they are a major threat."

"Oh they're the least of your worries." Jexi said as the kingdom force arrived.

"You…" Luxio growled.

"It's over Luxio. Your invasion plan is ruined. You can either surrender peacefully...or we'll take your kingdom by force." Jexi said.

"Touching...however I will never surrender this kingdom." Luxio said.

"Hmm...well then. How about a wager then?" Jexi asked.

"A wager?" Luxio said.

"I don't really get it myself but David's been keen on fighting a soldier of yours...Dracozolt." Jexi said.

"Dracozolt? That weakling? What sort of idiot is he?" Luxio said.

"But isn't it supposedly true that your kingdom has powerful soldiers? I think if you had any faith in even the weakest links, you wouldn't have a problem letting them fight. Unless of course you're afraid to admit you're scared." Jexi said.

"Grrr. One of the things I rarely do is admit to cowardice. Fine. I will allow them to fight. Name your terms." Luxio said.

"Here's what's going to happen...David and Dracozolt will battle. If David wins, we gain the kingdom and you all pack up and get out." Jexi said.

"Fine. But if Dracozolt somehow manages to pull out a win...that boy will renounce any claims of being a warrior and never fight again." Luxio said.

"Which will never happen. So bring him on." David said.

"Okay then….Dracozolt!" Luxio roared before Dracozolt came marching through the walls with a glare. "Though I should mention...he's not exactly in his right mind. He's a little miffed about him missing their first arranged fight."

"You mean the one that Staravia manipulated? That one shouldn't have even counted." David said. "Because I don't do requests."

"True but Dracozolt's always been a bit...emotional. Especially about matters like this." Luxio said.

"Alright then. Let's see how he takes his stress out." David said.

"Dracozolt...FIGHT!" Luxio ordered as Dracozolt charged at David.

"You….Dragon...Rush!" Dracozolt roared charging at him.

David coated his hands in ice in an attempt to catch his attack and counter. "Don't give in to anger, Dracozolt. That's not like you. I saw the potential inside you back in the factory, I know you can overcome this anger you feel."

"This coming from the guy who left me waiting for days!" Dracozolt roared. "Bolt Beak!" he said trying to shock David only to miss.

"It wasn't my intention to. I wanted to respect our original promise. But then Staravia...that damn pigeon-brain, he tried to disgrace my honor as a warrior and a samurai by complying with his demands. And after what he did to Arctozolt, I couldn't let him get away with that." David said.

"That the...wait...what?" Dracozolt said stopping.

"Staravia… He tried to change the arrangements to meet with his attack. He attacked Arctozolt in the process, called him a traitor, simply for refusing to sway me to the new demands." David said. "Arctozolt cared for you very much. And I got Arctozolt to fight back."

"He...he really went and did that all for me?" Dracozolt said crying. "He is the best brother."

"Please, don't cry, Dracozolt. Tears don't suit someone like you. And he wouldn't want to see you like this. He would've wanted you to fight...to your fullest potential." David said.

"Okay...for him...I'll crush you into the ground!" Dracozolt said.

"That's the spirit. Now, come at me with everything you have!" David said.

"Dragon Pulse!" Dracozolt said firing a pulse of energy at David.

David tucked his hands behind him before a ball of energy formed. "Here it comes. Shinkuu...Hadoken!" he shouted as he unleashed it into an energy beam.

"Gah!" Dracozolt said taking it head on. "Yeah...more. Give me more!" Dracozolt roared as he charged before collapsing to the ground.

"Dracozolt? Are you alright?" David asked, keeping his guard as he moves closer.

"I see...he was running on adrenaline to keep going." Luxio said. "He exhausted a majority of his energy during his rage."

"Yeah… Manipulation can do that to people." David said as he extends a hand to Dracozolt.

"So...do we have a deal?" Jexi asked.

"I'm bound by my word. I will recall all my troops and leave immediately." Luxio said.

"Hold on. If I may… I have a few more things to add." David said helping Dracozolt up. "First, Dracozolt and Arctozolt come with us. The second...is more like a question. As you can see, Pugulis is still in the airspace. Will you help us fight against them?"

"I will agree with the first. However, the second is out of the question. But that is only because there is need of a massive reform here in Violight." Luxio said.

"I'm sure there are a few of us here that can help with that. I know you really care for your people, deep down." David said.

"I do. But the reform I'm talking about is increasing the power of my people. From what I've seen today...it looks like even the weakest of grains have hidden power." Luxio said.

"Like I said, we can help you guys train. Some of us may not look it, but we've been through the wringer many times to know when small sparks start to emerge. Err… No pun intended." David said.

"We'll consider it someday. However...we have some rules to follow. No kingdom is allowed to fight against Pugulis without just cause." Luxio said. "So said the previous king."

"I see. Well, all the same, you should come by to Tokyo sometime. I'm sure that you'll all be treated well." David said as he starts scratching Luxio's ears.

"Hehehe. Perhaps we'll take you up on that someday." Luxio said.

"You like this? Seems like even the queen of Violight has a bit of a soft side." David said. "Well, I've always been a bit of a cat lover, anyway."

"And with that...we've taken two kingdoms. Just one more and we've saved this world." Jexi said as a dome of light erupted from the factory.

"We'll meet again...one day." Luxio said as they were engulfed in the light.

_Back to the previous evening…_

"So the casualties of the killer music were kept to a minimum?" Jexi asked on the computer.

"Yeah. Toxtricity's electricity ended up scrambling a lot of the signals across the city." Hope said.

"Well...that's a relief." Jexi said. "Seems they ended up helping us without even realizing it." Jexi laughed.

"Yep. Seems that way." David said reading through his study guide and notes.

"Hope...the one that beat Toxtricity...that was you wasn't it?" Jexi asked.

"Yeah...I did beat him. Only cause...I have things I need to protect." Hope said.

"Yeah...we all do." Jexi smiled. "Don't you dare ever lose your way again. Or I'll kick your butt."

"I won't, Jexi. That's a promise I intend to keep with my last breath." Hope said.

"Hehehe. The same goes for everyone." Jexi said.

"Here, here." David said.

"So, are you ready for the exam tomorrow?" Arctozolt asked.

"Yep. Now that I got some peace and quiet from Odd's music, and with Violight no longer a problem, I've got this in the bag." David said.

"Let's hope so." Dracozolt said.


	22. Frontier

We open a few days after the battle of Violight, where Jeremie was once again running the materialization program for Aelita in the middle of the night. But as he entered it, the program failed and a red exclamation point was shown.

"What do you mean? I don't believe this. Why does it always happen just then? Aelita? Did you deactivate those sinusoidal modules like I told you to?" Jeremie asked.

"Of course. And I even fragmented the internal engines." Aelita said.

"I already did that. The system is bound to screw up if it gets the same data twice. If we keep working against each other, we're never going to succeed." Jeremie said.

"I'm sorry." Aelita said.

"No! I mean I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so angry." Jeremie said.

"No. It was my fault, Jeremie. Either way, I think we should stop for tonight. Good night." Aelita said.

"Wait, Aelita!" Jeremie called out before Aelita logged off for the night.

_The next day…_

"Morning, guys." David said.

Jeremie just looked down as they converged.

"Geez… Looks like I'm not the only one that would've rather slept in. What happened?" David asked.

"Me? I didn't sleep a wink. I've got an awful lot on my mind." Jeremie said.

"Materializing Aelita, right?" Elize asked.

"No. Well, yes actually. But it's a lot more than that." Jeremie said as the bell rang. It was later in the classroom where the conversation continued.

"So what's up?" Pit asked.

"Well last night, me and Aelita sort of had a fight." Jeremie said.

"About what?" Mahiru asked.

"Nothing. It was on account of me. I yelled at her and I think she got mad. I need to go." Jeremie said.

"Where, the boys room?" Hiyoko asked.

"No. To Lyoko." Jeremie said.

"What?" Hiyoko said.

"Miss Saionji! Repeat to me what I just told you." the teacher said.

"Uh…." Hiyoko stammered. "Odd, a little help here?" but Odd was fast asleep as everybody laughed.

_Later after class…._

"I'm not sure its a good idea for you to do this, Jeremie. I mean, virtualizing yourself to head to Lyoko to apologize to Alileta? That's not something we can have you risk doing." Hope said.

"Don't worry. It won't be long, about an hour. I can go at lunchtime." Jeremie said.

"That's not the problem. I mean, Miu knows about a little of the computer, but you practically mastered the thing." Kaminari said.

"True, but once you get the idea, it's not that complicated.I can launch a simple biactor program and give you the directions." Jeremie said.

"Something about this just doesn't seem right. What if XANA attacks while you're there?" Kaede asked.

"Then we bring him back and have someone else take his place." Kokichi said.

Later at the factory, Jeremie explained to Yumi how to use the supercomputer and how to set it to transfer his memory instead of his body. He handed Yumi the manual for the computer and headed down to the scanners.

"Your scanner, sir." Pit said, showing him inside.

"Be brave, Jeremie." Jeremie told himself as he stepped inside as it closed.

"I'm starting the transfer now." Yumi said.

As the scan commenced, an error appeared on the screen. When the scanners opened again, Jeremie was gone. The group quickly converged in the lab.

"What the heck happened? Where's Jeremie?" Mineta asked.

"During the transfer, Yumi made a data transfer error. He didn't end up in Lyoko or with you. He's stuck in between." Aelita said.

Jeremie floated within a white space as he muttered something. "Get memory. Get memory." Jeremie said.

"We can still bring him back, right? Aelita, are you still able to connect to him?" Mahiru asked.

"Yes. I can think what he thinks. I need to recover memory in the four passage towers and transfer them into the three scanners to bring him back. It will take one of your afternoons." Aelita said.

"No time for us to dillydally, then." Jesse said.

"You guys head back to school. I'll stay and monitor Aelita's progress." Yumi said.

As for Jeremie, he floated in that space before finding himself in a large blue room with cells all across the walls. "What the…"

"Well...seems this is the second time we've had to meet like this." a voice said as a man with a long nose sat behind a desk.

"Second time?" Jeremie asked.

"Oh, that's right. This is a different timeline so to you, this would be the first time, wouldn't it?" he said.

"What are you talking about, you're not making any…" Jeremie started.

"It's okay." said a young girl in a blue dress with a blue headband.

"Just...what is this place?" Jeremie asked.

"Ah yes. I welcome you...to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor. You could consider me a warden here." he said. "This young girl is Lavenza...she is my attendant."

"Why did you bring me here?" Jeremie asked.

"I'll be honest...right now in the present...or rather an alternative future to you...a large catastrophe is currently unfolding with no end in sight it would seem." Igor said. "And those who can stop it are preoccupied with dealing with the Redux's rules. As much as I would like to break them out, I'm afraid the rules can't be broken by me. Were I to remove them prematurely...that could cause drastic changes to this current timeline."

"So...what are we supposed to do about it?" Jeremie asked.

"In the near future...Lavenza will reappear within your world...more than likely, the day you bring that girl into reality. She will bring you all here and then we can work on setting things right." Igor said. "Now...I think it's time you were off." he said as Jeremie vanished.

"What about the pink haired girl?" Lavenza asked.

"No worries. I've blocked the experience here from his mind. He'll remember when he meets with you in the future. Now all they have to do is continue going down the repeated path until they reach the finish line." Igor said.

Later we see Aelita approaching the second tower in the desert. She entered it and obtained the second set of memory codes. The group then arrived at the lab.

"She just got the second set of memory codes and is heading to the forest as we speak." Yumi said.

"Why don't you head back to school? We'll take care of things here." David said.

Yumi then left for the school while the rest of the group monitored Aelita. As Aelita headed for the third tower, a group of Kankerlats began to follow Aelita and tried to hit her with their lasers, but they missed her every time and she had reached the third tower.

"Phew… That was close." David said.

Later we see Aelita approaching the mountain sector tower only to see two bloks in front of it.

"I can't get near the tower. XANA's already aware of what's going on. And I'm losing more and more of Jeremie by the minute." Aelita said.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. I'm sure that there's a way out of this problem." David said.

"Jeremie says that we can't get it from another scanner and an external computer can't produce enough power to operate the three scanners." Aelita said.

"Hmm...what about one?" Jexi asked.

"I'll check with him." Aelita said.

"But why one? We need all three, don't we?" Magnamon asked.

"Jexi is on to something here. If someone here gets sent to Lyoko, they can help Aelita reach the tower and bring Jeremie back." Leopardmon said.

"You have to hurry. The computer's beginning to delete him. It's confusing him with an outdated file." Aelita said.

"We're running out of options. I'll call Yumi and ask her to bring Jeremie's laptop." Sachiko said.

Meanwhile on Lyoko, the bloks had spotted Aelita and began to chase after her. As she ran from the bloks, she jumped across a gap and landed safely. One of the bloks then fell off the ledge and into the sea. Meanwhile on Earth, Ulrich has received a call that Yumi was in the principal's office. He then hurried to the school to get her out of trouble. It didn't take long before the two ran back to the factory.

"I am not going to ask." David said.

"Trust me. It's better for all of us if you don't." Ulrich said.

"So you don't wanna share how you kissed Sissi?" Dan asked.

"If any of you tell Yumi, you're dead." Ulrich said as he headed down to the scanners.

"Aelita, are you there? Ulrich is going to try and reach you." David said.

"Yes. I'm here." Aelita said.

Yumi then started connecting the laptop. "We don't have enough memory. We need ten more bytes." Yumi said.

"Anyone got any ideas?" David asked.

"Maybe I do." Odd said.

"Alright Odd, what do you have in mind?" Mark asked.

The process was then launched again and this time Ulrich was virtualized. As Aelita was being sandwiched by the blok from before and a new blok, Ulrich stabbed the new one and threw his sword at the original, which destroyed both.

"Say, where did you get the rest of that memory?" Ulrich asked.

"Thank Tetris Annihilator. I hope you weren't planning on playing anytime soon." Odd said.

"I have more important things to worry about than games." Ulrich said.

Aelita then ran to the tower to retrieve the last of the memory. We then see the in between where Jeremie awoke to see Aelita reaching out for him. As soon as they touched, Jeremie was in the scanner back on Earth, where everyone welcomed him back with open arms. They soon return to Jeremie's room where he awoke. That night, he and Aelita made up for their fight while Ulrich and Yumi were goin through some difficulty of their own on account of the kiss with Sissi.

"I tell you, that was pretty crazy. To be honest, I was kind of scared we'd lose him for a moment there." David said, communicating with the others on the Sunny.

"Yeah. Same here. We're glad it all worked out." Jexi said.

"I've been wondering… Do couples really fight a lot?" Dracozolt asked.

"Well, not all the time, but… It does tend to happen." David said.

"Someone should tell that to that Stern boy and Ishiyama girl." Arctozolt said.

"I...don't think that's a good idea." Cheetah said.

"I'll have to agree with her on this. It's probably better for all of us if we stayed out of that one." David said.

"Yeah, those two are kinda on again off again a lot of the time. Least during the time facing XANA." Nami said.

Outside the school, Ulrich tries to talk to Yumi.

"Listen, Yumi. It's not what you think. There's nothing going on between me and Sissi." Ulrich said.

"Sure, good night!" Yumi said hanging up.

"Yumi wait, lemme explain… Yumi, are you still there? ...Yumi?" Ulrich called.

_Meanwhile in the Velvet Room…._

"Will we see that boy again?" Lavenza asked.

"We most certainly will, along with the rest of them. I look forward to seeing the materialization again. They'll need all the help they can get if they are going to fight the elves." Igor said. "As well as uncover the truth behind their demise."


	23. The Robots

It was late in the night when a dark smoke emerged within the factory's reproduction line as it quickly took control of all the production equipment as the computer and monitor screens inside gained the eye of XANA.

_The next morning…_

"As you can see, this sheet of titanium is incredibly more resilient than any sheet of steel." Hertz said.

"You should have used that for your robot." Nicholas whispered to Herb.

"I'm afraid this material is a bit out of your price range but that reminds me. Don't forget that the robot competition is this afternoon so don't forget to turn in your model if you plan on competing." Hertz said.

"Is yours ready, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked to which Jeremie gave a thumbs up.

"What about yours, Herb?" Sissi asked.

"No problem. Come and see it after school, okay?" Herb asked as Sissi smirked.

_Later on the quad…._

"Hey Miles, why didn't you enter the robot contest?" Hiyoko asked.

"Because my mechs are not things meant for playing." Miles said. "They're for serious hero work and terrain traversing. While I do have my tools, most of my mechs were in the Galaxy King before we were transported."

"Miu was planning to enter Fulgore, but realized that he's too big, so… She's trying to make a...smaller version of him." David said. "His Mini-Me, if you will. Though with the material used, she said she might not be able to replicate him exactly."

"Yeah, Fulgore's tech is way too advanced for this age." Sachiko said.

"It's funny you say that Sachiko, because we know about a supercomputer that is way beyond our time right here near Kadic." Mahiru said.

"Not the same thing, Mahiru. Fulgore is from an alternate dystopian future." David said.

"Every world's advance in technology is different. In theory, Fulgore's design and programming could be years ahead of the Supercomputer." Keebo added.

"Lets not get too ahead of ourselves though. Lets focus on cheering on Jeremie and his creation right now." Hope said.

"Yeah...Kiwi 2 is definitely gonna be a crowd pleaser." Ochako said.

And so that afternoon was spent with the group watching the two robots battle it out on the court via a basketball game. The two bots kept one another on their feet until the final round. As Kiwi 2 was about to make the basket, it suddenly fell apart into multiple pieces, making Iron Sissi the winner.

"And the winner of this year's robot contest is Herb." Jim said. "And remember Class 9-B, you got Phys Ed in five minutes."

"I don't get it, Kiwi 2 was rolling, why'd it suddenly fall apart?" Hope asked.

"We can show you. Take a look." Milly said showing the camera.

The footage showed at the second Kiwi 2 was looking to dunk the ball, Iron Sissi was commanded to shoot a bolt from its mouth at high speed, piercing through Kiwi 2's body before it exploded into pieces.

"So that's what happened...he cheated." Jeremie said.

"I swear… Sportsmanship really is dead…" David said.

"What can you expect? It's Sissi and her two henchmen." Hope said before hearing a noise. "What was that?!"

A large humanoid robot then muscled its way into the gym before it looked directly at the group.

"Trouble." David said. "Guess XANA finally brought in the Terminator."

"Wait...I've seen those parts around the factory before." Miles said. "Oh lord...he's gotten hold of the assembly line."

"I think now would be a good time to run." Ross said.

"Quick, into the locker room!" Kazuichi said as everyone ran for the men's locker room and headed inside.

"Hey, you can't come in here!" one of the boys said to the girls in the group.

"No time for gender rules, giant killer robot right outside this door!" Rainbow said as the robot banged on the door as the students fled, Yumi and Ulrich blocking the door.

"We need to get to the factory immediately before XANA programs his own personal army." Miles said.

"Like this guy will give us the chance. I'll stay with Ulrich and Yumi. Jeremie and Odd will go to the factory and I'll catch up with you guys later." David said.

"Okay. We'll see you then." Miles said as they split up.

"And now...let's get out of here." Ulrich said as they left the locker room as the robot broke right in.

"We need an expert in robotics to help with this." Yumi said.

"Our choices are either Miu or...Herb." David said.

"Miu will probably be needed at the factory." Yumi said.

"Herb it is, then." David said.

The three then ran to find Sissi, Nicholas and Herb walking together.

"Excuse me. We're gonna need him for a few seconds." David said, grabbing Herb.

"Hey, let me go. I'm no part of your gang." Herb said.

"Funny, wonder how Sissi would feel about cheaters." Ulrich said.

"Uh…" Herb said.

"Milly and Tamiya recorded the whole thing, you know." David said.

"Fine. I'll help you. But I'll need Hertz's drill from the science lab." Herb said.

At that moment, the robot had spotted them.

"Damn… This guy is persistent. You guys head to the science lab. I'll hold this guy off until Fulgore gets here." David said.

"Got it, be careful." Yumi said.

"I may not be John Connor, but I can handle this." David said as the others left for the science lab. "Hey! Terminator!" he called out to the robot, taunting it.

The robot then looked to David, locking on to him as it sprint towards him.

David formed an ice shield to block the robot's attack. The robot then went on the offensive as it pounded away on his shield with blow after powerful blow.

"Arctic Style: Ice Fangs!" David said as he dropped the shield and went for a punch with his fist encased in a panther's head. The ice pierced through parts of its body before the robot tossed him off.

"Heh. Not bad. But I can still fight." David said as he started firing crystals.

The robot deflected the crystals with its arms as it combated David blow for blow.

"It's starting to read my movements. I don't think I can keep this up for much longer." David said.

"You don't have to, David." a voice said as something landed in front of him. It was Fulgore.

"Fulgore, you're here!" David said.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Fulgore said. "Great job holding out against this guy. Get going to the factory. I'll take it from here. Sectonia and Tanjiro are already on their way there."

"Got it. Thanks, Fulgore." David said as he ran off.

"Now then...I think we need to be properly introduced." Fulgore said as he repeatedly beat against the robot standing before him before tearing it apart. "That's one down. But more will be on their way soon."

_Meanwhile at the factory…._

"Fulgore's destroyed the robot, but it's only a matter of time before XANA makes a new one." Jeremie said.

"Yeah...make that...no time." Rainbow said on the comm as she was being stared down by a robot equipped with blasters. "Please tell me the others on Lyoko reached the tower. He's giving them major upgrades."

"They're almost there, just hang on." Jeremie said.

"Easy for you to say!" Rainbow said dodging bolts launched at her.

_On Lyoko…_

"Yeah...we might have difficulty reaching the tower." Tanjiro said as they saw the tower on a rotating platform.

"It's not really all that difficult. You just need to watch your timing." David said.

"You're right. I think I have an idea to get across." Tanjiro said. "Aelita, grab onto me."

'Oh, okay. I'm ready." Aelita said grabbing onto Tanjiro from behind.

"David...you're going to launch us into the air." Tanjiro said.

"Me? Um… Okay. Fair warning, though… This might hurt a little bit." David said planting his sword on the ground. "Breath of Ice: Second Form! Crystal Spires!" he said as a trail of ice crystals headed to Tanjiro and Aelita and sent them high into the sky.

"This is just what we needed. Breath of Water: Ninth Form! Splashing Water Flow-Turbulent!" Tanjiro said moving his body around in midair, creating what seemed like an ocean of streams before quickly landing next to the tower. "Hurry on inside."

"Okay, thank you." Aelita said running into the tower and deactivating it.

"Looks like it worked. Thanks for going with my plan." Tanjiro said.

"Still, are you okay, Tanjiro? You were warned it might hurt a little." Sectonia said.

"Don't worry. I'm just fine." Tanjiro said.

"Of course you are. You've lasted against tougher than that." David said.

"Yeah...I have. That's because I'm not going to die until I save Nezuko...and avenge my family." Tanjiro said.

"You can count on us to help if you need it. Sayuri and Fubuki know how strong Muzan Kibitsuji is. You're going to need some help against him." Sectonia said.

"Thank you." Tanjiro said as the white dome spread across. They were then brought back to the time of the competition at the match point. Kiwi 2 grabbed the ball and headed to the basket and just before the bolt could hit, Kiwi 2 twisted its body to the side and made the basket.

"And that's all for this year! The winner is Jeremie!" Jim said as the students cheered.

"Yeah! He was ready for it this time." David said.

"Yep. And it looks like Sissi's taking it to Herb." Hope said seeing Sissi chewing out Herb.

"How could you let that thing win? You're about as ugly as your robot!" Sissi shouted.

"Eh...he's not as bad when he wants to be." Yumi said.

"Yeah...least not unless you force his hand." Ulrich said.

"Mm-hm. No doubt about that." David said.

"Still, it creeped me out how well those robots reminded me of actual Terminators." Rainbow said. "When that bot pointed its blasters at me, I almost heard Arnie say 'you are terminated'."

"Huh. Never pegged XANA as a fan of those movies." David said.

"Let's just hope he never makes real Terminators." Hope said.

"Yeah, that would be the day." Sachiko said.


	24. Zero Gravity Zone

"Wow...Ulrich is really kicking it out there. No pun intended." Akane said as they watched him score goal after goal.

"Well there is a big game this afternoon so I kinda get it." Dan said.

"Oh we are so gonna win today." Rainbow said.

"I can agree with that, Ulrich will definitely be the deciding factor in today's game. Lincoln Junior High's got a tough team, but Ulrich could be the factor that changes that." Hope said.

However, as they were discussing that, strange things unfolded off the court. As Yumi was headed to school, for a brief moment, she felt weightless near a blinking light before falling back to the ground. "What the? Oh this better not have been…" she said before running down the path to the school.

"You're kidding...you actually floated...as in midair?" Kaede asked.

"Yeah, it was weird." Yumi said. "I think it might be XANA."

"Hmmm. It's possible. If he uses the right electromagnetic frequency, he can easily disrupt the earth's natural magnetism, or gravity, causing a small area to be completely weightless." Miu said.

"Especially since earlier, Sissi was practicing her cheerleading routine… The baton never came back down." David said.

"Yeah...guess that explains the satellite photo Tails shared with me." Ochako said showing a photo of the baton leaving the earth's orbit and going into space.

"Whoa, that really happened." Akane said. "So is this stuff really dangerous?"

"In a small area, no...but in a larger one...say about the size of the soccer field…" Miu said.

"That's bad news. We have to strike while the iron's hot and deactivate the tower XANA's activated before his plan goes further into effect." Hope said.

"Count me out." Ulrich said.

"What?" Jeremie said.

"I said, count me out. I'll help you all after the game is over." Ulrich said.

"You're gonna abandon the ship?!" Jeremie asked.

"Jeremie, easy! Ulrich's got a lotta pressure on him today because of the soccer game." Hope said.

"I understand that, but he would rather kick a ball around than save the world?!" Jeremie asked.

"You wouldn't understand." Ulrich said as he left.

"Hey, lay off a bit. He has a reason for being like this." David said.

"His parents are coming to the game and Ulrich and his dad have not always been on the best of terms and with Ulrich's grades...this game's pretty much all he can do to keep him happy." Odd said.

"Odd's right. It's why he's been practicing so hard for a while now. He's going to play today's game like his life depends on it." David said.

"Just in case XANA tries anything during the game today, maybe some of us should keep watch over there." Hope said.

"I'll go. With me there, Ulrich will at least have some positive reinforcement." David said.

"That's not the main issue. Pugilis still hasn't made a move yet. What's keeping them…?" Mayumi asked.

"I don't know. And I'm not all that familiar with Pugilis ways of conquest, considering it's a Fighting-type kingdom, but… If they are planning to strike at the soccer field, I'll handle it so Ulrich can focus on the game." David said.

"The only reason you guys never fought any of the soldiers the first time was cause I was handling them in the woods." Ranma said. "But I'm here. So...does this mean someone else is taking care of them before they even arrive?"

"I'm not sure, Ranma. Might be that prisoner from Chrysalia that went missing. Who knows? All we know is, your appearance here changes things a little bit." David said.

"Yeah. It does. The only reason I fought Gurdurr was cause he beat me. But we didn't even fight and I've gotten stronger since last time." Ranma said.

"Maybe that's why he hasn't sought you out this time." Genis said.

"Hold on a second, didn't Luxio say Pugilis has a new king?" Mahiru asked.

"No...she said former king. She was likely referring to the one who ruled before Gurdurr." Dracozolt said on the comm.

"And if the pattern checks out, this former king is able to Gigantamax too." David said.

"He was. But you don't have to worry. He left the scene many many years ago." Arctozolt said on the comm. "He was a warrior like no other. He battled over a million opponents in an all out kingdom war and didn't fall once. He then ordered all other kingdoms that they were invading from to never invade Pugulis lest you face his fists."

"Seriously? Whoa… That's crazy strong." David said.

"Yeah. After he fought, he held a competition and Gurdurr won it, which allowed him to take the former king's place, allowing the former king to leave Pugulis in good hands." Dracozolt said.

"He's probably stronger than your little alliance put together." Arctozolt said.

"Who was this guy?" Akane asked.

"The greatest fighter to ever walk the kingdoms and give up his rule to another. The wandering warrior and the king of fighters...Urshifu." Dracozolt said.

"Urshifu…." Hope said. "That's probably another mythical Pokemon from Galar we haven't seen yet, like Calyrex."

"Hmm...I don't know about mythical but that name does sound sort of familiar. I think I may have heard it during my Galar campaign." Titanica said.

"Really?" Hope asked. "What did you hear about it?"

"I don't remember." Titanica said.

"Hmm… I'm gonna bring this up with the guys at Sunny. In the meantime, you guys…" Hope said.

"Just calm down. We can worry about the info later. We need to head to Lyoko now." Pit said.

"Right, sorry. Let's go. David, stay safe." Hope said.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." David said.

They hurried off to the factory and quickly sent a team off to Lyoko. The first being Yumi, Odd and Ochako. And the second consisting of Hope, Akane and Double D.

"Okay...we made it in." Ochako said.

"Just keep heading for the tower. And be careful...I see a signal you all will probably not like." Miu said.

"Let me guess...Lost Thieves?" Odd asked. "Been awhile since they showed up in here."

"I see it. And...wait...isn't that?" Yumi said as they looked down the path to the tower to see Lan standing on the path.

"It's Lan?" Hope asked.

"Well well...looks like we have quite the audience here." Lan said. "Guess all seven of you want to play."

"What's his deal anyway?" Odd asked.

"He's got the power to make the effects of his cards real." Hope said. "I've wondered about this for awhile, actually. Lan…you're from the Real World, aren't you?"

"Hehehe….and here I thought I was careful with hiding that." Lan said.

"I knew it." Hope said.

"Hope, what are you talking about?" Akane asked.

"I've had my suspicions about Lan and his powers since the very beginning. I had a theory about him, so I wanted to be sure. Now I know. Lan is from the real world… and he's a Jumper."

"You're half right. I am from the Real World...but I'm no Jumper. I didn't get my abilities till I came into this world." Lan said. "You'd be amazed what happens when someone from the real world gets brought into the world of you fictionals. Then again, I'm pretty much fictional now myself."

"But it doesn't make sense… why would you want to leave the life you had behind in your world? You were probably a great trading card game player, a champion."

"Not great...I'm actually a world ranked champion. And I didn't leave it...I was brought here one day. Even in this realm I'm pretty high ranked. But...the games...they just weren't enough anymore." Lan said. "I wanted more to this new life...then I met Arthur and he showed me how to best use my abilities. I will show this world that I exist without having to just win tournaments."

"I admire that kind of goal, but if this is the path you want to walk, someday it will lead to destruction." Hope said.

"So what?" Lan said. "If I end up destroying myself, it'll be more proof that I lived here. Now...I have respect for your friend Ishihara so I'll give you one chance...run away or you'll be annihilated."

"You know we can't do that." Ochako said.

"Suit yourself." Lan said. "Loading the deck...Lost Fortune! Let the game begin! I start by summoning Fortune Lady Fire!" he said as a woman in red appeared near him and started summoning fireballs to attack.

"Move!" Hope said as everyone evaded the fireballs. "Double D, what should we do? We've never faced Lan directly but we know his abilities."

"That's right. Lan is able to use only five cards at a time. That's the limit of his realism ability. He's likely planning to summon monsters to keep us away from the tower." Double D said.

"We can't keep up with him, but maybe we can outplay him." Yumi said. "If we play our strengths right, we can outmaneuver him and get Aelita to the tower."

"Double D, we're counting on you. Put that brain to work and use us to outsmart Lan." Hope said. "I know you can do it."

"Right…I can do this." Double D said as he surveyed the area, seeing rocks. "That's it! Ochako, Yumi, the rocks, we can use them as a shield. Odd, help me with covering fire. Everyone else, deal with any monsters that get too close."

They quickly huddled up as Yumi and Ochako made the rocks float.

"Oh, trying to make a shield huh? Well...let's see how you handle this! Fortune Lady Water!" Lan said as a woman in blue appeared and fired water shots at them.

"I think not!" Double D said as he fired a Ki sphere at one of the water shots, causing the liquid to explode out harmlessly.

"I got the others!" Hope said holding his hand out and projecting an aura that froze the other water shots, turning them to ice. "Spectral Blizzard: Sub Zero Veil! Odd, Yumi, now!"

"Laser Arrow!" Odd called firing at fortune Lady Water.

"Hiyah!" Yumi threw her fan at Fortune Lady Fire, destroying them both.

"Oh no...you almost had me. I activate two of my traps! Slip of Fortune x2! Your attacks are negated!" Lan said.

"He's trying to keep his monsters alive…" Hope said. "That's it, I know what he's up to. He's looking to summon an Earthbound Immortal!"

"How did...oh well...so much for the surprise." Lan said. "So...let's not keep you all in suspense!" he said as a strange heart like contraption appeared in the air as it absorbed the two fortune ladies. "Come! Earthbound Immortal Aslla Piscu!" he said as the heart like organ grew and changed before becoming a large hummingbird like creature with orange lines all over its body.

"Whoa, you totally called it! How did you know?!" Akane asked.

"I'm pretty well versed in Yu-Gi-Oh myself, so I'm familiar with a lot of deck strategies and combos." Hope said.

"Not as much as David and Sachiko, though." Odd said.

"Yeah, you're an amateaur compared to those two." Lan said. "Then you also know that Earthbound Immortals can't be destroyed. Normally I would need a field spell in the world outside of Lyoko...but since Lyoko is basically just one big virtual field…"

"They don't have any weakness here." Hope said.

"Yeah. Not even the Universal Villains could stand up to one of these guys." Lan said.

"This is bad, we need to think fast. That thing looks like it could wipe out all our life points with one shot." Yumi said.

"Fear not, fellows. Lan thinks he has us beat, but he's mistaken. Let's hold out for a little while longer." Double D said.

"You sure?" Ochako asked.

"I'm positive. This isn't a card match. This "Aslla Piscu" may be invincible to our attacks...but perhaps it can be tricked. Lead it to that ledge!" Double D gestured, pointing to where a ledge was partially formed.

"I think I might have an idea." Aelita said as she ran off to it and began using her Creativity to make the ledge grow before her.

"Aw...trying to take an alternate route? Not very smart considering she's your key to the plan. Aslla Piscu...attack the girl!" Lan ordered as Aslla Piscu flew left and right and attacked Aelita with its talons and beak.

"Not gonna happen! Double D!" Hope said as he and Double D leaped in front of Aslla Piscu. "Tien, were borrowing your move! Ready Double D?!"

"I believe so!" the boy responded, putting his hands into a certain position. "We can't damage an Earthbound Immortal...but we can move it! Neo-Tri Beam!"

Double D blasted at Aslla Piscu as it screeched and tried to attack him.

"Hey, birdie!" Hope said as the immortal looked at him. "Say Cheese! SOLAR FLARE!"

"You idiot!" Lan said as Aslla Piscu was unphased by the attack as it grabbed Hope with one talon. "You just wasted your chance to run. Nothing you guys can do can harm Aslla Piscu. And now...destroy the girl!" Lan ordered as Aslla Piscu hit Aelita with its beak, forcing her over the edge.

"Aelita!" Hope shouted.

"See? You can't win. You lost. Your key player is gone." Lan said smiling. "I win again." he said laughing a bit as Double D did. "Why are you laughing? You just lost."

"Because that was exactly what we were hoping for." Double D said.

"What are you talking about? You wanted me to kill her?" Lan said.

"No, we just needed you to focus on her copy." Double D said as he pointed behind Lan. Lan looked over his shoulder to see Aelita running into the tower.

"What? How…" Lan said.

"We knew from the start we couldn't beat you. So we decided to distract you instead." Akane said.

"See, Double D had you playing into his hands the whole time." Ochako said.

"I get it now. She wasn't just making the ledge grow, she made a double of herself. While they and the double were being attacked by Aslla Piscu, she walked down the path and right past me without me even realizing." Lan said.

"Indeed. This has been quite the experience, but…" Double D said as he looked towards the signature light of the RTTP. "...looks like our time is up. Pleasure playing with you, Lan." he said, waving goodbye as the light overtook them.

"Can't believe it. For the first time in my life...I lost." Lan said before the light overtook the area, bringing them back in time to just before the match started.

"Yeah! Go Ulrich!" Rainbow and the others cheered as Ulrich scored a goal for their team.

"Wow, I still couldn't believe you managed to pull it off against Lan, Double D. With enough polish, you could be a better strategist than I am." David said.

"You really believe so?" Double D asked. "That's high praise indeed, coming from you."

"Don't get too excited about it. You still have a long way before that happens." Mayumi said.

"I understand. I haven't been as helpful as I can be since joining the alliance...but I swear I'll do my absolute hardest to live up to your expectations." Double D assured.

"Still… I know Lan may have lost today, but in the world of trading card pros, he's a world champion. Maybe someday, we'll be able to face him in a real card game." Hope said.

_Meanwhile in his room…_

"Damn it. I lost. I can't believe I lost." Lan growled. "I fell for such an easy trick. I hate this feeling inside me. I swear...next time we fight...I'll definitely crush him into the ground."


	25. Routine

The day started over after having successfully deactivated another tower as Chemistry was in session.

"And this equation which you weren't able to solve would have enabled you to-" Hertz said before the bell rang. "That's it for today, class. Remember to do the chemistry exercise for tomorrow."

The class then dispersed as soon as the bell rang. The group then met up with Yumi in the quad of the school.

"So how was class?" Yumi asked.

"Pretty much the same before the RTTP." Izuku said.

"And here comes Sissi, as usual." Sachiko said.

"And I predict that as she walks up to us she'll say: 'Hello, Ulrich dear. Can we talk for a minute?'" David said.

"Hello, Ulrich dear. Can we talk for a minute?" Sissi asked Ulrich.

"Right on the money." David said.

"First of all, I am not your 'Ulrich dear'. Second of all, I will not go to your room to explain Exercise B on page 52." Ulrich said.

"How did you know what I was going to say?" Sissi said before groaning and walking off.

"A Sissi attack isn't as annoying as a XANA attack but it's ten times as boring." Yumi said.

"That's for sure." Ulrich agreed.

"Anyway...hope you guys have your fun." Ranma said packing up his bag.

"Where are you going?" Dan asked.

"I'll be heading into the woods for a few days." Ranma said. "I wanna check out to see if there has been any kingdom activity."

"You sure you don't want any help looking? I can contact Perfuma and Chopper to help you out since they're already there." Hope said.

"No. They never went to the places I did and I'm the only one who knows the way." Ranma said. "Plus...it's been awhile and Pugulis made no move to attack any of us. That cannot just be good luck."

"I have to agree with him. If what he's told us is true, they should have made multiple attempts." Frisk said.

"Maybe they're planning something?" Mahiru asked.

"All the more reason to check out Pugilis's activity." Hope said. "Good luck, Ranma."

"Thanks...I'll let you guys know if I find anything." Ranma said as he headed off.

"So you guys wanna sneak into town tonight?" Ulrich asked.

"Sorry but I have a date with my pillow." Odd said.

"I need to work on Aelita materialization." Jeremie said.

"And I have a lot of studying to do." Yumi said.

"Same goes for us. Sorry Ulrich." Mark apologized.

"Oh. All...all right then." Ulrich said.

The group then split up, leaving Ulrich all alone. Sometime later, Hope was walking down the hall when he heard a voice.

"Hey, Hope. Can I talk to you for a minute? Man to man?" David asked.

"Yeah, what about?" Hope asked.

"Listen… This may seem out of left field, but… Has there ever been anyone you're in...love with?" David asked.

"Love? I don't know much about that." Hope said. "You know me. For one reason or another, I always seem to have the worst luck with girls."

"Yeah, I figured as much." David said. "It's just that, well… Ulrich and Yumi's relationship is getting a bit rocky, which isn't really a surprise at this point. Not to mention a certain someone that I've been getting a little close to lately."

"Yeah, I've seen it all over Ulrich's face. He's tired of the same thing over and over again. More than that, I think he believes he and Yumi isn't gonna work out like he thinks." Hope said.

"Well, what did you expect with these two? Budding romances aren't always love at first sight." David said. "I mean, take a look at me and Sectonia for example. It took me a while to accept the darkness inside that she had been keeping at bay until her redux. I guess the same would go for my team and Cheetah, I guess. Considering the history we had, it was difficult to accept her as a comrade at first."

"A lot of people have darkness they usually keep away for awhile. For example, I ran away from my family to start as a hero, but when Black was going to use them for his own gain, I had to face my demons. But after I did, I knew in my heart that I wasn't going to stay away from the Ginovas." Hope said.

"But eventually, the past always catches up to us. It's pretty much like my dad in the World of Light. He decided to fight against Alabastar thinking he was going to die, as a means of ending the era created by our fathers." David said.

"But in the end, both generations ended up taking down that vampire creep without any casualties." Hope said.

"Yes. And as such, it opened the doors to new worlds. Not just for us to explore, but for many others as well." David said. "Whoa… I can't believe how much the conversation derailed there."

"It just shows how close we're bonding. We've got more in common than you think." Hope said.

"Yeah… Do you think the others see that with me and Barbara too? N-not like anyone is going to admit it, not even either of us." David said.

"Probably. I mean, you guys are rivals, and you make each other better." Hope said. "But it's up to you to decide if she, Cold and Ivy want to come with you, and it's their choice if they accept."

"We'll be facing twice as much guff from their Diana if they do, but hey… That's nothing new for either of us." David said. "Ulrich and Yumi, on the other hand… At this point, I'm wondering if there's any hope for them."

"Oh trust me...they may say it's over now but in the end they'll be close." Hope said.

The next day, as Yumi walked through the school yard, she saw Ulrich speaking with a young girl named Emily.

"Why is he with Emily? It looks like they're having a good time." Yumi inquired.

She then met up with the others.

"What game is he playing?" Yumi asked.

"What? He's just talking to her. You're not jealous, are you?" Eijiro asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. Besides, she's a year older than him." Yumi said.

"You're a year older than him." Yaoyorozu said.

"It's different for me because I'm his girlfriend, I mean good friend.' Yumi said.

"Look, he's been depressed lately, and maybe he's trying to keep some pressure off him by talking to someone else. You don't have to make a big deal out of it." Hope mentioned.

"Who says I'm making a big deal about it?!" Yumi said.

Later, Yumi is seen staring at the two til Sissi walked right up to her.

"Look at those two. Two months together and they're really hitting it off." Sissi said.

"What?" Yumi said.

"You didn't know? Well, I've decided to give up on him as should you." Sissi said walking off.

"I'm not going to be taken in by your tricks." Yumi shouted.

Yumi then walked away. Later with the group…

"Looks like XANA's launched another attack. He's been getting more active lately." Miu said.

"I can't reach Ulrich." Jeremie said.

"I'll go get him." Yumi said as she left.

"Should...we be worried about that?" Frisk asked. "Yumi is definitely not in her right mind today."

"Yes, but this is a true test of their relationship." David said.

"We should probably just go ahead to the factory and wait for them there." Asta said.

"Right." Mahiru said.

The group soon headed to the factory, with Yumi and Ulrich not far behind, but both arriving in foul moods aimed at each other.

"Okay...that's probably gonna affect teamwork." Hope said.

"No time to worry about that. I'm sending Odd, Ulrich and Yumi in first. Anyone who wants to follow will have to wait." Jeremie said. "What?" he said before noticing something. "So this was his plan. Nuts!"

"Oh no. He tampered with the virtualization process." Miu said.

"More than that. He's deactivated the devirtualization process. If they get hit, they're gone for good." Jeremie said.

"It's too risky to send us in with those conditions." Zenitsu said.

"He's right. We'll just have to trust those four will be okay." Jexi said before getting a ring on his comm. "Hello? Ranma?"

"Jexi. Glad I got you. Listen...I need you guys to send a medical team to my location ASAP." Ranma said.

"A medical team? What happened?" Ramona asked.

"Don't worry. The medical team isn't for me." Ranma said looking across the forest to see multiple Pugulis soldiers beaten up all across it.

"Well… Okay, if you say so. We're on it." Ramona said.

They hurried out to the woods and started working to heal the Pugulis soldiers.

"So I found out why they weren't coming at us." Ranma said.

"That means there was someone else here." Cheetah said. "They still have an unfamiliar scent on them. Likely from whomever they were fighting."

"She's not wrong." a Hitmonchan groaned. "We came down one at a time since Chrysalia left. We wandered the woods but...someone left traps all across the forest and we ended up triggering each one."

"Yeah and if we didn't trigger a trap, we would encounter this other guy who would challenge us and beat us down like we were punching bags." a Sawk said.

"Who was it? Did you get a good look at him?" Hope asked.

"We can't really remember the guy who set the traps nor the guy who beat us up. They struck so fast." a Throh said.

"These guys obviously can't give them any info like this. Let's get them to the medical bay." David said.

The heroes returned every single injured Pugilis member to the Sunny just as the RTTP had launched.

"We thank you all so much." a Pangoro said. "We wouldn't have survived without you."

"Happy to help." David said communicating to the Sunny. "But you should thank Ranma more than the rest of us. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have found you."

"Then this will be awkward. We were planning on ambushing him but...we got ambushed instead." a Poliwrath said.

"By those mysterious figures, no doubt." Poison Ivy said.

"If only we had some kind of description. We might have some clue as to what they look like." Sectonia said.

"Well...he got a look at one of them. Only cause he hid." A Mienshao said pointing to a Pancham hiding in the corner.

"Wait a second…" Hope said. "That Pancham… could it be?" he said to himself.

"You saw one of the attackers?" Ramona asked.

"Yeah...I did. I came down with Pangoro to watch him win." Pancham said. "But...he charged at the trap guy to punch him and ended up triggering a trap he put on himself."

"Whoever this guy is, he's really good at traps. What did he look like?" Hope said.

"He has red wavy hair...and his mouth was covered in this weird mask." Pancham said.

"Wait...no way...that jerk is here?" Asta said.

"Huh? You know who it is Asta?" Akane asked.

"Yeah. We were on a team together to determine members for the Royal Knights of my world to fight against this group I told you about. He's a member of the Purple Orcas...Xerx something." Asta said.

"Xerx Lugner, vice-captain of the Purple Orcas." Cheetah said. "But this doesn't make sense. I've been hearing that someone attacked him and took his place during that exam. I can only make out a name. Zora Ideale."

"It seems this Zora guy used Xerx's name and pretended to be him for the exam." Jexi said.

"Which means the person Pancham described is actually Zora, not Xerx." David said as the bell rang on his end. "I gotta go. Science Class. See you guys later." he said as he hung up.

"Now that we know who it is, it won't be long before we find a way to deal with him." Cheetah said.

"Right. And we will avenge the honor of our kingdom." a Crabrawler said before wincing a bit.

"Not with those wounds, you will. We can't send you back to Pugulis like this." Ramona said. "For now, you all need to rest and heal up."

"As for Zora, you just leave finding him to us." Ranma said.

"Thank...you. All of you." Crabrawler said.


	26. Rock Bottom?

"Woohoo! 3 Day-Weekend!" Rainbow cheered. "Vegging time!"

"Nuh uh." Indigo said, grabbing her. "The last thing you're doing is vegging."

"She's right. We still have a job to do, considering two guys from beyond this world are loose in the woods." Eijiro said.

"Agreed. This Zora is very dangerous. We should be careful if he's set any traps in the woods." Hope said.

"That's an understatement. He took out almost half of those soldiers with those traps alone." Dan said.

"Well...then we'll just have to be cautious." Ranma said. "During the break, I'll take a team of three with me into the woods."

"I'm definitely going then." Asta said. "His traps are made with magic. I can nullify them."

"Who knows where he hid them though, you'll need someone to detect them." Hope said.

"Then I guess it's a good thing Barbara's back at base. I know you guys haven't gotten used to having her around yet, but trust me… She's better at that kind of stuff than me." David said.

"He has a point. As stated before, animals have better senses than humans do. And since she got her abilities through a mystic ritual, she should be able to detect them easily." Shuichi said.

"Then we still need one more." Ranma said. "Actually...we may have all we need."

"You think so?" Mahiru asked.

"Believe me when I say Mahiru, that the combo of Asta, Ranma and Cheetah will get things done." Hope said.

"I know the woods ins and outs. I have an idea where he may be hiding if he's living out there." Ranma said. "There's this waterfall I used to train and live near. It's likely he'll be there."

"Aright. Good luck." Mahiru said.

As the two of them headed out to meet with Cheetah, they saw some girl scaling it. "Now who is that?" Ranma asked.

"Oh that's Odd's friend. The DJ….girl...person. Samantha I think. She goes here." Asta said.

"Then why is she scaling the fence?" Ranma asked.

"Obviously cause she wants to get some climbing in." Asta said.

"Yeah...somehow I don't think what you're thinking is the right thing." Ranma sighed. "We can worry about that later."

'Right. Let's meet up with Cheetah and get that jerk with the cool mask!" Asta said.

"Okay…" Ranma sighed.

_Meanwhile on the campus…_

"So did you get in okay?" Odd asked Samantha.

"Yeah. Climbing over the wall was no biggie." Samantha said.

"So when are you going to show me what you can do?" Odd asked.

"When I find a little more stuff. I haven't found what I liked yet. Now let's stop talking about music. Are you ready for a big thrill session?" Samantha asked. "Just take me to the computer lab."

As the two snuck through the school and into the lab, peaking in was Usopp and Mayumi.

"Odd...and his friend. Wait...are...are they stealing?" Usopp said seeing Samantha grabbing one.

"Odd's not the type for that kind of stuff. More likely, Samantha coerced him into it." Mayumi said.

"What are you doing?" Odd asked.

"I need something with a lot of power and I'm broke so I have to rip this one off. Your school's insured so everyone's happy, right?" Samantha said.

"Wrong. Insurance or not. Stealing's a crime. And besides, nobody does that around here." Odd said.

Just then, Jim, Franky and Vector came in and saw Odd with the computer just as he took it from Samantha.

"Odd...I can't believe this. You...a thief?!" Vector said.

"Oh you're in a heap of trouble now. The office. Now!" Jim said.

Vector and Jim then escorted Odd right out.

"Oh man...he screwed up big this time." Franky said watching.

"What's going to happen?" Mayumi asked showing up.

"Considering he was about to steal school property...he'll face the disciplinary board. He could get expelled." Franky said.

"Expulsion? That can't be. I saw the whole thing." Mayumi said.

"What did you see?" Franky asked.

"Samantha was the one trying to rip off the computer. Odd took it out of his hands in an attempt to defend her, despite wanting no part in this." Mayumi said.

"And who is Samantha?" Franky asked.

"A kid at this school." Usopp said.

"'Fraid to break it to you but there is no one by that name who goes here." Franky said.

"I thought there was something off about her when I saw her…" Mayumi said.

"Looks like she's going to have to face Lady Justice then." Franky said before they heard a large sinking sound as they saw some of the buildings beginning to sink into the ground.

"Great… This is just what we need right now." Mayumi said.

"I knew this school sunk but I didn't think it would literally sink." Usopp said.

"XANA...he's at it again. Get the others and get to the factory." Franky said.

"What about you, Franky?" Mayumi asked.

"I'll try and keep anyone still here from panicking." Franky said. "I'm SUPER good at it!"

"Alright. We'll leave it to you. And...be careful." Mayumi said.

_Meanwhile in the woods…_

"We must be getting close." Ranma said seeing more defeated warriors along the way.

"This stench is getting stronger as these bodies pile up. He's close." Cheetah said.

"Hey...there he is!" Asta said seeing a large Bewear going against a man in black with a mask over his mouth and red wavy hair.

"Come on. You're supposed to be a soldier of a fighting kingdom? Now this is just pathetic." he said.

"You…" Bewear said doing an Arm Thrust on the guy before a circle glowed on him as the blow was dealt back to Bewear, taking it out.

"So, that is Zora Ideale in the flesh." Cheetah said. "Never would I have imagined a man as ruthless as him in the past with us. Of course… I guess I'm one to talk, am I?"

"Hmm...oh...the shrimp's here. And he brought some guy in his PJ's and a little house cat." Zora said.

"Hey. I haven't forgotten about all that stuff back there. And what's this Zora stuff? You're Zerz aren't…" Asta said before a bug landed on his back before releasing a powerful odor. "Ah not this again."

"You, you just keep talking to yourself and to that Rainbow Stinkbug." Zora said.

"How did a man like you even come into incarceration with Chrysalia in the first place?" Cheetah asked. "Were you sent here, like we were?"

"How about...you just go find yourself a nice scratching post, pussycat?" Zora said.

"I hate to be the one to break this to you, but I already have." Cheetah said. "Unless you answer us, of course."

"Oooh...feisty. Yeah...not really interested in coming with some wannabe knights...and a runt." Zora said.

"HEY! You saved me last on purpose!" Asta shouted.

"Look. I only got in this mess because of you in the first place." Zora said. "And I had to come find you because we have something in common." he said putting on a black robe.

"Wait...why are you wearing that? Since when are you a Black Bull?" Asta asked.

"Oh...you're captain gave me this one night and offered me a spot." Zora said.

"What? Now that is just dirty. People can't just join in secret." Asta said.

"Complain all you want, doesn't change a thing." Zora said.

"Hmm...I think we can trust him." Ranma said.

"What? But even Cheetah said he beat up the real Xerx." Asta said.

"I only did that cause the pompous idiot threatened to kill an old woman." Zora said."People like that who want money, power, and mistreat others...have no rights calling themselves Magic Knights."

"Seems like we're in a split decision here. What's your take on this, Cheetah?" Ranma asked. "You're pretty much the deciding vote here."

"We'll take him with us. Under strict observation." Cheetah said.

"Fine. I can deal with that." Zora said as they escorted him out of the forest.

"Yeah but we don't…" Ranma said as a rainbow stinkbug fell on him. "Oh god, how many of these things does he have?" he groaned.

"Trust me on this one. It's best not to say anything on the matter." Cheetah said.

_Meanwhile on Lyoko…_

"Green Star: Devil!" Usopp said firing a pop green that became a man eating plant as it bit into some nearby monsters.

"Astral Vision!" Mayumi said as a double of her appears, attacking two Bloks in sync before she dodges, causing two more to hit each other.

"Haha! Nice work, Mayumi! We're really getting rid of the pests!" Usopp said.

"Don't let your guard down yet, Usopp. I'm sensing a powerful presence nearby." Mayumi said.

"Well well...so you two are my prey this time." a voice said as approaching them was a man wearing a skull mask.

"And who, may I ask, are you?" Mayumi asked.

"Ribeye...a member of the Lost Thieves." he said. "And your opponent."

"Pretty much figured that part out already." Mayumi said.

"I don't get it. Why do they keep sending people after us? Both sides want the same thing." Miu said.

"As Zaveid would say, sometimes you just need to fight these things out." Mayumi said.

"Bone Magic: Raging Bone!" Ribeye said as two skeleton arms appeared from his body and rapidly punched at the two.

"Yipe!" Usopp said.

"Calm down, Usopp. At times like this, you need to keep a cool head." Mayumi said.

"You see the guy...oh god!" Usopp said seeing a large skeletal tree rise up.

"Bone Magic: Skeletal Battle Tree!" Ribeye said as the ribs of said tree started stabbing and jabbing all across the area.

"His movements are too erratic. We won't get a good hit on him at this rate." Mayumi said as she switched to Adamantine Armor.

"Then we'll just have to hope for the best! Green Star: Platanus...Shuriken!" Usopp said firing fern like shurikens that cut apart the skeletal tree.

"Bone Magic: Bed of Nails!" Ribeye shouted as pointed bones were rising quickly from the ground in a wave.

"I get it now. All his spells focus on just attacking everything at once." Usopp said.

Mayumi gets in front of Usopp to block the wave of bones coming towards them. "More than that, he's only attack from the ground. I've got an idea, but it's risky."

"As long as it gets us out alive, I'm fine with it." Usopp said.

"Alright. Armor Change!" Mayumi said as she switched to her Black Wing Armor and took to the air.

"Bone Magic: Chaser Nail!" Ribeye said as one of the bones grew longer and went at Mayumi.

"No way! Green Star: Skull Bombgrass!" Usopp said firing and destroying the bone.

"Gotcha now!" Mayumi said charging at Ribeye with her sword.

"Gah!" Ribeye said being struck hard with the sword. "That...hurt…" he said, collapsing.

"Whew… That was close. Nice work, Usopp. I couldn't have done this without you." Mayumi said.

"No prob." Usopp said as Aelita reached the tower. "And it looks like our job is done." he said as they high fived as the RTTP was activated and restarted to earlier in the day.

"Okay...looks like we got one of the two attackers." Jexi said. "Yet we still have no idea who the other was."

"Though it shouldn't matter right now. With so many of their soldiers out of commission...we have the means to take the fight to them." Adora said.

"Are you sure it's okay to launch an attack on Pugilis like this?" David asked.

"We'll only be gone for a day. Just gotta take down Gurdurr and they'll leave without another word." Jexi said.

"I know. But after what we've done for their soldiers, it's kind of like we're betraying their trust in us. I mean, sure. We managed to bring Zora to our side, but the other attacker is still at large." David said.

"Other attacker? You mean the other guy who was beating down on those soldiers?" Zora asked.

"Yes. The very same. Judging from the way you asked that, I'm guessing you're not partners." David said.

"No way. I only fought back because they came at me. The other guy was challenging the rest." Zora said.

"I can think of a few people that fit that description." Leopardmon said.

"You mean...the fighter buster?" a voice said as they saw a Stufful peeking from behind a corner.

"Fighter Buster? Is it some kind of legend or something?" Leia asked.

"It's what we called that guy. He attacked some soldiers we had scouting. But...what I noticed was he appeared weaker than them but then he quickly overpowered them with just one punch for each." Stufful said.

"So you saw what he looked like." Gray said.

"He was definitely a human. Short blond hair with red eyes." Stufful said.

"Wait...that sounds like...oh no way." Jexi said groaning.

"You know who it is, Jexi?" Hope asked.

"Don't tell me you haven't figured it out either Hope. There's only one guy I know who fits the description." Jexi groaned.

_Meanwhile…_

"So...were you having fun out there?" Arthur asked.

"I'll say. This Law, was it, you gave me is incredible. I never thought I could use a punch like that." Flux said washing his hands.

"The Law of Balance. It's a rather rare law. It basically evens the playing field, but it's only useful if the opponent is physically stronger than the user." Arthur said.

"True. But even a little bit helps. I need to be more than ready to show them a thing or two when we go to Lyoko during her materialization." Flux said. "I know we're supposed to give them their win but...nothing says I can't show them a thing or two while doing it...especially after all they and I have been through."

"I couldn't agree more. Our time is ending here so...we may as well go out with a bang." Arthur said.

_Back with the others…_

"Flux? But...how could he have that sort of power?" Hope asked in shock.

"Two words. New item. We all know that Flux isn't a fighter, so his bro got him something that can change that." David said. "Heh. It's about damn time, too. I was wondering when he would start fighting his own battles."

"Yeah. He's normally relied on machines and others...now that he's with the Lost Thieves, he's going on his own merit." Jexi said laughing a bit.

"You sound happy, Jexi. Finally gonna have a chance to fight him properly, huh?" David asked.

"Properly...never cared about that. Just glad to have another bout with him." Jexi said smiling.

"Well, I know better than to stop you when it comes to something like that." David said. "After all, me and a certain someone here know that feeling, all too well." he said motioning to Cheetah.

"Uh...guys...we...have a visitor." Glimmer said coming in.

"Not now. We need to plan for Pugilis and fighting Gurdurr." Adora said.

"That's...just it. He's actually outside...like right now." Glimmer said.

"He's probably here for his injured men." Sectonia said.

"Well...can't keep him waiting." Ranma said as they walked out to see a muscular creature holding a large girder.

"So...you are the ones who have been collecting my soldiers." Gurdurr said. "I have one thing to say." he said before tossing his girder aside and falling to the floor. "Thank you...all so much."

"Er… You're welcome. We couldn't just leave them the way they were." Ramona said.

"I worried for them day and night when they never returned. You all are just...so incredible. I never thought they would come back but...you all just went and saved them." Gurdurr said.

"Sir...please don't disgrace yourself!" Pangoro said.

"No. I just sat back and did nothing while everyone else just went and fought on my behalf. It is completely inexcusable." Gurdurr said.

"We understand why you feel guilty. Your people were doing their best for you, and you believed they could fight. It is what you say it is. But a King can't be in his own guilt forever. A king must be strong, willing to lead his people even from defeat. I know you can do that because I see you're a great leader." Hope said. "Huh?" he said seeing Gurdurr asleep.

"Sorry...fell asleep during that sappy yet beautiful speech of his. I would like to repay all of you somehow." Gurdurr said. "Name it. Anything."

"Uh…" Jexi said before seeing the others get rid of the attack plans. "How about we make peace?"

"Hmm...okay. I suppose that's worth it for saving all of my men." Gurdurr said.

"Gotta say, this was quite an unexpected turn of events." David said.

"I know. Kinda glad we didn't go through with the...attack." Jexi whispered.

"I know. I would've felt guilty after all of that." David whispered before going back to his normal tone. "Still, it won't be long now. I can feel it. For this redux...The final battle is upon us."

"Yeah...seems we've almost reached the final chapter." Jexi said. "Looking forward to it."


	27. Code Earth

We open to Jeremie's room where he is working on his materialization program once again.

"I'm sure it's going to work this time." Jeremie said.

"So do I. I really hope you succeed this time. When you have them ready, I'll get the whole alliance together and we'll throw a little party for her." Jexi said.

"Thank you. That means a lot. Now for Plan Alpha." Jeremie said as he made the call to Yumi, who planned to make it okay for her parents to allow Aelita to stay in their home.

_The next morning at school…_

"Very well then. What is your cousin's name, Odd?" Delmas asked.

"Aelita" Odd said.

"Aelita. And where does she come from?" Delmas asked.

"She's from Holland." Odd said.

"Hmm. Well, the papers are in order and your parents have recommended her highly, so I see no reason on why she can't attend school here. Let me know when she arrives." Delmas said.

They soon left the office and then gave a little celebratory noise before they ran into Jim.

"Okay, what are you up to? You know this area is off limits to students." Jim said.

"We had an appointment with the principal. About Odd's cousin attending school." David said.

"What a lame excuse. What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Jim said.

"Well…" Odd said.

"Don't answer that. You think I'm not on to your little pranks? You disappear in the park like magic. You plot in your rooms with those other guys." Jim said.

"It's not a crime." Odd said.

"Maybe not. But you listen up. One of these days, I'm going to find out what all of you are hiding. And now to the cafeteria. Hurry up!" Jim said.

"Uh...we'll take them." Vector said arriving with Franky as they escorted them off. "So...how's it going with Aelita?" he whispered.

"Almost there." Hiyoko said.

"I'm getting worried that Jim might be onto us." Mahriu said. "If he continues to investigate us, he might end up finding the secret passage to the factory."

"Then we just have to keep on our guard." Mark said. "Just stay the course."

"I wouldn't worry too much. Even if he does find out, we'll use the RTTP and it'll be like it never happened." David said.

"He's right. Jim is not much of a threat." Frisk said. "A bit nosy but no threat."

Later the whole group converged in Jeremie's room where he began to run the program. As soon as the program finished, a green plus appeared on the screen.

"It...it works! I can't believe it." Jeremie said.

The group then cheered as soon as they saw the results. Jeremie then copied the program onto a disc. He then contacted Aelita.

"Jeremie?" Aelita asked.

"I don't know how to say this but...we're waiting for you." Jeremie said.

"The key to materialization? It's really here?" Aelita asked.

"Yes. It's on this disc. I need to set up the program in the supercomputer and Aelita will have to get to the passage tower in Lyoko's forest sector." Jeremie said.

"I'm off to the forest right now." Aelita said.

"And we'll be in class. Then afterwards, the factory." Jeremie said. "Then after that, we'll head to that party on the Sunny."

"See you soon, my friends." Aelita said logging off.

As Jeremie packed the disc into his bag and the group exited the room, Jim, Vector and Franky encountered them.

"Up to no good again, are you?" Jim said.

"No way. We were uh….studying?" Natsu said.

"Studying my foot. Now stop lying and tell me the truth. And we can stand here all day if we have to." Jim said.

"Jim! What is the meaning of this?" Delmas demanded as he walked down the hall.

"I'm glad you're here, sir. These kids are up to no good and I intend to find out what it is." Jim said.

"I see what's going on now." Delmas said. "Another one of your absurd stories about insane plots and secret passages? Or perhaps some of these students have unusual abilities like, I don't know, some sort of quirk or a power granted by a magic fruit or magic?"

"Uh...yeah. Nothing like that here." Izuku said laughing nervously.

"Now listen here. You are a physical education teacher, not a detective. Do not bring this up with me again." Delmas said as he walked off.

"Grrrr." Jim growled before looking at them. "What are you standing around for? Get to class! All of you!"

Everyone then got moving.

"That was too close." Hope said.

"To be fair on Mr. Delmas' part, he wasn't that far off on that last part. And that's what worries me a little bit." David said.

"If he were a little brighter and more inquisitive, we'd have been found out long ago." Gemini said.

"Yeah...let's keep that in mind because we have at least one more redux chance in this timeline max." Hope said.

"The very last one, right?" David asked.

"Yeah. And unlike this and the last one, I was actually there for the last one." Hope said. "Trust me, it gets crazy."

"If I researched it correctly, it was against the Pillar Men. However, thanks to all of the changes to this timeline, it's hard to tell if we'll be fighting them again." David said.

"Yeah. And that was during a weird time when the timeline was all screwed up. It likely won't even happen this time around." Hope said. "Good thing to. I don't know if I want to face Kars again."

"I pray to whatever god can hear us that we won't." David said.

They soon went off to class before getting a distress call from Aelita before running off.

"So what's going on?" Yumi asked.

"XANA." Ulrich said.

"He knows the end is near and he's not giving up without a fight." Odd said.

The group then headed down to the sewers just as Jim was about to catch them. The group then arrived at the factory. As soon as they arrived, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were virtualized and on Lyoko and started fighting towards the tower.

"Okay. I'll put on Jeremie's program now." Miu said putting the disc in before appearing on the screen was a strange music video featuring Odd.

"Oh no…" Mahiru said.

"What? What's wrong?" Kazuichi asked.

"This isn't the program." Miu said.

"This is one of Odd's stupid music videos." Usopp said.

"I have to get back to the dorm." Jeremie said, removing the disc.

"You came up with a music video?" David asked.

"Yeah. And it's pretty good." Odd said.

"What's the title?" Ulrich asked.

"Break, Break, Break Dance." Odd said.

"Not to sound like a critic, Odd… But I can come up with a better one. I just don't think this world is ready to see it yet." David said.

"Enough fooling around. We have some cleaning up to do." Yumi said as she, Ulrich and Odd went after the monsters as Aelita ran for the tower.

Meanwhile at Kadic, Jeremie had gone to his room and retrieved the program. But before he could leave, he encountered Jim.

"Playing hooky? Now, you're going to tell me what you have been planning since the beginning of the year. And this time, the principal and those two aren't here to help you." Jim said.

Jeremie then quickly ducked through Jim's left and ran down the halls with Jim chasing him. He then began to run down the stairs, but tripped and landed at the bottom of the staircase.

"Oh no. Jeremie." Jim said coming down as Vector and Franky arrived.

"Oh this doesn't look good. We gotta take him to the infirmary." Vector said.

"Jim...you took things too far this time, man." Franky said.

Meanwhile on Lyoko, as the group waited in the tower, a megatank arrived with Flux in tow.

"Well...the Lyoko trio is here. Just what I was expecting." Flux said jumping off it.

"And right now...it's going to be a family bonding experience." Arthur said jumping down beside him.

"Lost Thieves again? We told you already, we're after the same thing, why do we have to fight?" Yumi asked.

"Sorry, but we need to keep our word." Flux said, knocking her aside. "Besides, this is the finale...and every finale needs an exciting final battle!"

"So...we decided to have a little fun." Arthur said snapping his fingers as a large mass of people marched down the path. "What fun would it be if it were just us...when we can have our whole family backing us."

"Oh this is not good. Guys...we need backup...now." Odd said.

"Don't worry. Help is on the way!" Miu said.

"Wait, who's going?" Kazuichi asked.

"Everybody!" Hope said.

"That's not possible. It only sends in three at a time." Miu said. "Oh, where is Jeremie?" she groaned.

_Meanwhile in the infirmary…_

"Does it still hurt?" the nurse asked.

"I feel fine now, Dorothy. I can walk." Jeremie said.

"Walking isn't something you will not be doing. It will take a week for that leg to heal up. And if you complain, I won't give you a pair of crutches to get around with." Dorothy said.

_Outside the infirmary…_

"Jim!" Delmas shouted approaching him. "You've gone too far this time. Your actions have gone and injured a student."

"I'm...sorry." Jim said.

"So am I. I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you go." Delmas said shocking Jim.

"You're firing him?!" Vector said.

"I have no choice. He's been warned too many times." Delmas said.

Meanwhile on Lyoko, the tank began to attack along with the Lost Thieves against the heroes.

"Now this is even more exciting than the last time. Time to die, heroes!" Flux said.

"Yeah. Over our dead bodies." Natsu said jumping right at him.

"Heh...nice try." Flux said as a bracelet on his arm glowed before he pulled a punch of his own, defeating him and devirtualizing him. "That was enjoyable but sadly, you aren't who I'm waiting for."

"Only one punch and Natsu's down?" Ulrich asked.

"Yep. That's the power of a Law, boys and girls!" Flux said. "Law of Balance. If an opponent is stronger than me physically, it drains their strength and gives it to me until we're on an equal level."

"He gave away his secret...but it's not like it matters in the end." Arthur chuckled. "My brother...he's always been one to put on a show."

"So...are we winning?" Hope asked.

"We've gotten a number of them taken down but...there's still so many of these guys!" Glimmer said.

"We need to wait for Jeremie to come back with the materialization program. I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to buy a little more time." Miu said.

_Back at the infirmary…_

"Can I go to the bathroom Dorothy?" Jeremie asked.

"Sorry, but the doctor insists you stay off your feet. I'll get you a bedpan." she said. As she she left, Jim showed himself in.

"Jeremie, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was just so sure that you kids were hiding a big secret from me." Jim said before looking out the window. "I deserve to get fired. I went a little crazy cause I thought you guys were hiding something. I'm gonna miss all of you. Especially you, Vector. Franky. Heck, I'll even miss Ishihara."

"Jim! You're not as crazy as you think. Me and my friends have been keeping a secret from you." Jeremie said.

"Then that means I was right all along. Let's hear it." Jim said.

"Jim. If you help me, I'll tell the principal everything. You'll be off the hook and he's bound to give you your job back." Jeremie said.

"Great. Shake on it." Jim said as they shook on it.

"Since we're exposing secrets, I should tell you that I'm a cyborg and Vector is a real crocodile and Ishihara is some half moonman guy." Franky said.

"I think the proper term is Lunarian." Jeremie said.

"Yeah but it's always hard for me to remember, so I've been calling him moonman." Franky said. "Well...not to his face."

"We should go." Vector said as they jumped out the window and went to the park, through the tunnel and arrived at the factory as Jeremie explained.

"And this super powerful virtual thing called XANA and this evil genius named Flux and these others called the Lost Thieves want to destroy us. Only Aelita can deactivate the towers and our job is to help her out as much as we can." Jeremie said.

"And she's on this thing called Loco, right?" Jim asked.

"It's Lyoko. The only way to destroy XANA is to unplug him. But first, we have to materialize Aelita, which is what we will do today." Jeremie said as they headed down into the computer lab.

"Whoa...who would have believed this." Jim said.

"So, I take it he knows everything?" David asked. "Since Jeremie told you about this place, I guess I may as well say it now… All of us… Well, except for Jeremie and the others, are from a different timeline entirely."

"Whoa...any other bombshells you wanna drop on me?" Jim asked.

"Unfortunately, what Jeremie said is all true. And materializing Aelita is the only way we'll get back. I'm… I'm sorry we kept this a secret from you and everyone else in the school. We feared that if anyone were to find out…" David started.

"Hey, you don't have to worry. I just got fired today." Jim said.

"Okay…I'm not gonna ask. It must've been rough." David said. "Though, I think Mr. Delmas was pretty close to figuring it out himself."

"He will when you guys tell him the truth after all this is over." Jim said.

"Oh right. About…" Vector began before they saw one of the scanners active. "What the heck?"

"Flux is causing massive casualties on our end with that new Law of his. So I asked for some expertise in that area." Miu said.

"Okay, let me see…" David said getting out a handbook and going through the pages. "Ah, here it is! The Law of Balance. It is said that whoever wears this will be able to drain the opponent's power level to equal his upon being attacked. Since he's not much of a fighter, I'd say it fits him really well. But now that Jeremie is back, I think it's time to bring in the big guns."

"He's just arrived." Miu smiled.

On Lyoko, Flux smiled and laughed seeing the Lost Thieves overtake the heroes. "Hmm...on top of the world, heroes losing...strange. This is normally the part when something gets in my…" Flux said before being hit from behind. "Yeah. Like that." he groaned before seeing Jexi standing there. "I've been waiting for you."

"Same here. I've been itching to fight you for awhile. And since everyone else is busy...time for a beatdown." Jexi smirked.

"Heh. I don't know if you heard, but I've got…." Flux said before Jexi slugged him. "Ow. That stung! Why didn't his strength get drained?"

"You already used it on Natsu. It takes an hour to recharge on the next target!" Arthur said.

"You could have told me that sooner!" Flux said before he started matching Jexi blow for blow. "Okay...you can do this. You just have to...Ow! Ow!" Flux said being hit in the face repeatedly.

"Flux...I'm going to pay you back for everything you've done to mess with everyone." Jexi said entering his Burst Form.

"Oh god." Flux said.

"Here we go!" Jexi said as 13 stars appeared from the armor as he attacked. "13 stars...of Justice!" he shouted as all of the stars struck Flux before taking him down and devirtualizing him.

"I told him it was a bad idea to show off." Arthur said. "Well, if you want something done right…" he said notching an arrow. "Gotta do it yourself."

"Oh...my eyes are on you too!" Jexi said lunging at Arthur before taking the arrow and landing at hit on him.

"He acted so quickly, I couldn't even use my law fast enough." Arthur thought as he landed on the ground. "All thieves...forget the heroes. Focus on destroying the tower!"

"Crud. He's changed his objective." Jexi said before standing before it as he started to take each hit, one after the other.

"Don't worry. Help is on the way." Jeremie said.

"Geez… Always sending us in waves. These guys clearly aren't pulling any punches this time." David said as his, Sectonia's, and Cheetah's scanners all closed.

"In you go." Miu said sending the three right in. "Remember...just keep the tower protected long enough so Aelita can be materialized."

"Got it. We'll buy some time." David said.

The thieves continued to try and attack the tower as Jexi continued to take hit after hit.

"How is he still standing?" Bloody Rose said.

"Don't forget...this is the same kid who took down the Dragon Master, Drake. He's no ordinary person." Cricket said.

"Doesn't matter in the slightest. I'm about to play our trump card." Lan said. "I'll sacrifice Sun Dragon, Inti and Moon Dragon, Quilla and summon...Earthbound Immortal, Wiraqocha Rasca!" he said as a large condor with violet lines appeared in the sky. "He can stand there as long as he wants. This monster's strong enough to destroy him and the tower!"

"Better make it fast. Cause he's about to get reinforcements." Mach said seeing David, Sectonia and Cheetah heading their way.

"Whoa… That's a big one." David said. "We won't be able to destroy it like this. The best we can do is distract it, and keep its focus away from the tower."

"I think we can handle that." Sectonia said firing a lightning bolt at the creature, nabbing its attention.

"Oh...this will be fun. Wiraqocha Rosca! Destroy them!" Lan ordered as the monster flew right at them.

"Here it comes. Get ready, everyone!" David said.

Wiraqocha Rosca then came swooping down as it actually started taking out a few of the trees as it flew low to the ground.

"It's charging right at us. Hold it… Steady… Keep your stance… Now!" David said.

The three of them jumped before landing right on its back.

"What in the?" Lan said.

"There. That should keep this thing away from the tower." David said. "Keep a solid hold on it. If it shakes us off, it's all over."

"Heh. Big deal. All I gotta do is tribute it and they'll be goners and...are they turning it around?" Lan said.

"Oh my god...RUN!" Mach said as the thieves started to scatter.

"We've got this covered. Miu! Launch the program! Do it now!" David said.

"Done." Miu said. "Here goes. Code Earth."

They continued to keep the thieves at bay as Aelita floated inside the tower. After Jexi fell from the final attack, Aelita was soon gone from the tower.

It wasn't before long, after bringing David and his group back that they greeted the newly brought back Aelita.

"She's here...welcome to Earth." Jeremie said, taking her hand.

It also wasn't long before they were brought onto the Sunny for a special celebration.

"Welcome!" every member on board shouted.

"So Aelita, how does it feel to finally be in the real world?" David asked.

"I'll admit...this place is strange but...I like it." Aelita said. "This air, the sea breeze, even this ship...all of it is so new and exciting to me."

"Don't worry. You'll see more sights than this." David said.

The team then began to party like there was no tomorrow. While they partied, we see Sissi, Milly and Tamiya hiding on the ship.

"I always knew they were weird like this." Sissi said.

"This is going to be our biggest scoop yet." Milly said.

As they all continued to enjoy themselves, they were unaware as Lavenza made her way to the time machine. "I hate to bring those from the past into the present, but given the circumstances...we have no choice." she said activating the machine before the Sunny launched itself through a hole in time and space.

"What the heck?" Connie said.

"The time machine...someone's activated it!" Tails said.

"Everybody hang on to something!" David said.

They all hung on tightly before they found themselves landing in a large blue room.

"What in the?" Jexi said.

"Hold on… If I've played any Persona game ever...this must be…" David started.

"Correct." a voice said as they saw Igor sitting with Emi, Zexi and his group, Theo and his guild and the Lost Thieves. "Welcome...to the Velvet Room. Now...we have much to discuss."

To be continued...


End file.
